


Second Chances

by Gr8PwrGr8Rspnsblty



Category: Rapunzel's Tangled Adventure (Cartoon), Tangled (2010)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Amnesia, Baby Varian, Cassandra isn’t a people person, Childhood, Eugene is learning how to feel, F/M, Father Figures, He’s trying guys, Kid Fic, Mother Hen Rapunzel, Parent-Child Relationship, Poor Varian (Disney), Protective Eugene, Protective Rapunzel, Varian is turned into a baby, deaged
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-10
Updated: 2020-05-20
Packaged: 2021-03-01 20:48:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 12
Words: 32,704
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23573386
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Gr8PwrGr8Rspnsblty/pseuds/Gr8PwrGr8Rspnsblty
Summary: Varian’s life was nothing but a sad story with glitter on it. Somebody decides that he deserves a break. A second chance. Unfortunately he doesn’t know what that intales.ORDeaged Varian and Parents Rapunzel and Eugene.
Relationships: Cassandra & Eugene Fitzherbert | Flynn Rider & Rapunzel & Varian, Eugene Fitzherbert | Flynn Rider & Rapunzel, Eugene Fitzherbert | Flynn Rider & Varian, Eugene Fitzherbert | Flynn Rider/Rapunzel, Rapunzel & Varian (Disney)
Comments: 86
Kudos: 302





	1. The Gift

Varian had no luck.

His life was just a sad story with a bunch of glitter tossed in it. People would hear the tale of the ex villain of Corona that kidnapped the Queen. His anger back then wasn’t given justice by just being told. Nobody could understand the emotions he felt. His father had  _ died _ . He had no choice. 

Anger swells at the thought. Not even the cold cell he laid managed to cool him. His nails scratched at concrete under him. 

He feels something soft crawl under his arm, poking out through the space between his arms and chest. Ruggider had a sympathized expression.  _ Pity _ . The raccoon snuggled close. 

Varian was speechless. His hand wraps around the raccoon holding him as close as humanly possible. Ruggider was the last thing he had. The one person who stood by him and understood. 

Before Varian could do anything, his eyes drooped. His body clings desperately to the small heat source near him. 

_ Just rest _ .

Varian’s eyes fall shut. His steady breaths echoing as his body curls into a small ball.

  
  
  


* * *

  
  


“ _ No! No, you listen to me, Dad. _ ”

The scene played like a broken play right in front of him. He watched from the distance like a side character to his own scene. 

“ _ Our village is dying! _ ” Stop. Varain wanted it to stop. “ _ You think running away from the problem is gonna fix it? _ ”

He begged his old self to for once shut up. Don’t say anything. Be the good son and step aside. Leave the rocks alone. Turn his back and never look back. 

“ _ Dad! I just, I deserve to know! _ ” Then, just fast as the anger in his old self manifested, it left as his father exclaimed his name, pulling him away. Both Varian’s feel the soul leave their body. The pain. The agony. 

“Dad!” Like some sort of horrible reaction, the rocks had begun to form. The black rocks he spent days and nights on grow. It’s sharp tip piercing through his father. He hears him gag. 

“No! Dad!” His older self struggles to stay awake at the sight. His stomach churning. 

“ _ Varain- _ “

“ _ I’m gonna get help! I promise! _ ” Varian begged his older self not to. It would bring nothing but pain. Rapunzel would never help him. She had lied to him. She was nothing but that. A fraud. She was the very reason he failed.

“ _ Such tragedy. _ ”

Varian blinks. No longer was he in the memory of his father. Now he stood on a field of grass, surrounded by dark ominous trees.  _ Woah _ .

“ _ You’ve been through so much. A disappointed father, death, and betrayal. _ ” 

Varian looks up expecting to see a dark night sky. Instead he sees something else. A sky painted with purples and blue. A galaxy of sorts. 

“ _ It’s hardly fair. _ ”

Varian’s mouth is dry. Words failed him. His brain is short circuiting. One moment he’s reliving the worst day of his life, the next he’s here in some weird forest. 

“ _ You have much hatred inside you.” _ The voice was inside him, echoing. “ _ You feel as if you’re all alone.” _

Varian wishes to wake up. Go back to the cell where he’d spend the rest of his life resenting his story. Anything but this.

“ _ Humans are such complex creatures. Despite your fate, you feel tremendous guilt for your actions. _ ” 

“No!” Varian isn’t sure how he spoke or how his mouth opened. He didn’t think is was possible to do that in a dream. “You’re wrong! I want Corona and Rapunzel to pay-“

“ _ Everyone looks for somebody to blame. You have yet to see that. To look inside yourself past the layers of your hatred. _ ” 

Varian isn’t sure what to respond to that. He was sure as hell wasn't guilty. He wanted Rapunzel to pay for everything. Her lies. Her- _ Her what?  _ A small voice in his head challenged. 

_ Rapunzel didn’t set the rocks. Rapunzel didn’t- _

_ She abandoned him! _ Anger flares through him again. How could he even doubt that? His anger was justified! She was nothing but a liar and manipulator! 

“ _ Such conflict you feel. It’s strong in you, little one. _ ”

For a moment, his anger clears his head. His body feels numbed with emotion. Sorrow, guilt, mourning, grief-they hit him like a truck. Corona didn’t kill his father. He did. It should’ve been him impaled by the black rock. 

“ _ We’ve chosen you for a gift... _ ”

A gift? Varian feels like his body was on clouds, floating away. His tongue couldn’t move. The sky began to get closer, the world becoming smaller around him. 

“ _ A second chance. _ ” 

Varian felt as if he was riding passenger in his own carriage. The world consumed him, causing nothing but a fuzzy warmth. This feeling spread limb to limb. It felt like he wasn’t even inside his own body anymore. 

“ _ Good luck, little one. _ ” 

  
  
  


* * *

  
  
  


Rapunzel had woken to chaos. 

Guards were tailing her every step. The castle doubled in security. She didn’t know why until she met Eugene in his room. He had been mid dressing when he sighed with relief to see her.

“Eugene, what’s going on?”

Before her boyfriend could respond, Cassandra’s figure came down the hall, her expression tight. She approached the two, barley looking either of them in the eye. 

“Cass?”

“Varian escaped.” Her words were unforgiving. Her eyes were glossy like a porcelain doll. She couldn’t find any hint of emotion. She was just a statue.

Rapunzel felt her stomach drop.  _ Varian _ , she thought. She remembered the last time she saw him. His hatred for her seeping through his eyes. He wanted her as good as dead. However she couldn’t bring herself to feel the same. She felt guilty for what happened. Though her decision was best for the kingdom, she found herself doubting it every night she’d close her eyes. She still remembered the sight of Quirin impaled as Varian tried to use her to find a way to heal again as it once did. To save what he lost. He was clinging onto one last hope, only to have it shredded away from him by reality. Her hair no longer contained its healing ability it once did. His father was never coming back.

When Varian was imprisoned it was bitter. To watch him be cuffed and taken away like a criminal. He was just a kid who dealt with his anger in the only way he thought he could. He just wanted to be heard. For somebody to help. However part of her felt better. No more threats to mother or father. It was selfish of her, she knows it. She hates herself for it.

However now he was gone. Nobody knew where. Would he return to finally exact his revenge? Finish the job? She couldn’t help but also worry about him. Was he safe? Is he out there hurt? Millions of thoughts flood her head. 

“I’m going to find him.” Rapunzel isn’t sure what made her want to speak up. However judging by the wild faces thrown her way, they did not agree.

“Blondie, I know you feel bad for him but this kid isn’t exactly your biggest fan!” 

“Varian hates you. He’s unpredictable-“

“But he’s my responsibility!” Rapunzel vocalizes, her brows knitted with determination. “I have to find him and help him!” She was about to walk away, when two very admit guards jump infront of her, stopping her.

“Raps, Varian is a criminal. He’s not your friend. If he’s out there, the guards will bring him back,” Cassandra tells him.

“I hate to agree with Miss Dragon Lady over here but she’s right! Leave the guards to deal with him!”

“No. I left him alone when he needed me once. I won’t make the same mistake.” Rapunzel was done with this conversation, pushing past the two. 

The two left behind glance at each other, feeling groans following up. 

“We cant let her go alone,” Cassandra points out. 

“I hate it when you’re right.” The two unwillingly followed after the determined princess. Both hoping for the same thing. That somebody would find him soon.

  
  
  


* * *

  
  
  


Rapunzel checked out the cell first. That’s where dozens of guards gathered around, mumbling. However the sight of the princess made their backs go straight, making way for her.

“Did you find anything?” Cassandra asks.

“Nothing. Everything was in order. No holes, no hidden exits-heck the cell was still locked!” Rapunzel's hand touches the cell poles. The cool metal sent a shiver down her spine as she looked around the cell. On the wall she could see tally marks drawn on the wall, the number adding up to the amount of days Varian spent trapped. There were some other scribbles. Doodles almost. All of them have one theme. 

_Revenge_.   
  


“We haven’t been able to enter the cell because of—“

**_HISS!_ **

Rapunzel’s eyes fall down to where the cot was. She sees a familiar fluffy Procyonidae. However instead of having a usual nice temperament, the raccoon seemed to be very agitated, scratching at the walls and floor. 

“Ruggider?” Rapunzel calls out.

The raccoon’s eyes meet hers. In that moment, she could see his ruffled expression. He obviously recognized him since he seemed to stop hissing. However that wasn’t what concerned her.

“Varian would never have left Ruggider alone,” Rapunzel states aloud.

“ _Raps_ -“

Rapunzel grabs the key to the cell, unlocking the door. She slowly opens the door to let herself in. She bends down beside the bed, peaking her head down. Closer she was, the more fear she could see in the raccoon. His hairs wiere stuck up, smiling to cat, caught in a corner.

“It’s okay Ruggider…” Rapunzel holds a hand out, offering a friendly peace offering. 

Ruggider doesn’t move towards her but doesn’t move away. He’s just stuck in that corner, watching her.

“Careful Princess. That’s a wild animal.”

“He’s not wild! He’s  _ Ruggider _ ! He’s a friend!” Rapunzel tells them. She pretended not to hear Cassandra’s sly  _ ‘not anymore _ ’ comment.

“Don’t be scared. We just want to find Varian. Make sure he’s safe,” Rapunzel tells him. 

The mention of Varian triggers something. The raccoon begins to scratch at the walls, begging to be let out. Dozens of squeaks and chitter escapes them, all too fast. 

“Do you know where he is? Can you take us to him?” Rapunzel asks. 

The raccon’s scratching grows more insistent, the call to get out becoming more desperate. It was clear whatever happened, it worried the small raccoon to the point of filing their nails down on concrete to the point it was all almost gone. 

“Open the cell!” Rapunzel didn’t leave room for argument. Quickly a guard reopened the cell door, making way.

Ruggider threw himself out, running off with a determination that’d put humans to shame. Rapunzel was hot after him and after her was Cassandra and Eugene. While the guards just shared confused glances, unsure of what exactly happened. 

  
  
  


* * *

  
  
  


Rapunzel was hot on Ruggider’s trail.

She kept up with the small raccoon who seemed very confident in where he was going. Though there were moments when the furry creature would stop and sniff the air, making sure they followed the right scent. Every so often, Ruggider would glance back, making sure Rapunzel was following him.

He led them straight into the woods. Their path felt like hours of running aimlessly. However Rapunzel trusted Ruggider. She knew the raccoon would never leave Varian. He would always head right back. 

It wasn’t until Rapunzel’s foot got caught in a tree bark, causing her to body slam onto the ground. Infront of her, Ruggider ran into the bushes, continuing without her.

“ _ Rapunzel! _ ” Both Cassandra and Eugene reach her, helping her up. She groans, wincing at the soreness in her knee. She knew before even looking that her knees were scrapped. 

“I lost him!” Rapunzel exclaims, looking around for Ruggider, hoping he’d turn up. 

“Blondie, we should go back-“

Before Rapunzel could argue, the bushes ruffled. Time seemed to move fast as she’s pulled behind Eugene and Cassandra. Their guards on high alert as something moved. A wolf? A dead? Ruggider? They didn’t know.

“Show yourself!” Cassandra demands.

Suddenly something walks out from the bushes. Swords drop, mouths agape in shock. Everyone seemed stunned at the sight in front of them.

“Oh my…” Cassandra breathes out.

Rapunzel couldn’t speak. Her eyes were just blown wide, body numb with shock. Nothing prepared her for the sight infront of her.

_ ”Varian?” _


	2. A Trick or Faith?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A rocky start to a second chance.

Cassandra has seen many weird things happen in her time as a Lady-In-Waiting. 

Black rocks, Glowing hair, Etc. However this by far was the weirdest.

In front of the group, a small child stood in front of them. A boy with eyes like the sky, sun kissed skin, and dozens of freckles across the cheeks. Though odd, it only got stranger. The boy had a head full of raven hair except for the acceptance of a stray blue streak. A blue streak that looks eerily familiar to a certain alchemist had. Though the similarities hardly stop there. The kid wore the same green gray cloth shirt underneath a tiny apron, dark shorts with black boots. Also, in his hands, Ruggider looked happy to be in the arms of the kid.

The kid seems terrified out of his mind. He looked up at the group of adults with the saddest eyes ever.

It was Eugene who broke the silence.

“Is it just me, or does this kid look eerily similar to the kid that tried to murder us all?” 

Rapunzel ignores this, stepping forward. She bends, her eyes full of empathy. 

“ _ Varian? _ ” She repeats, her voice hesitant, almost afraid of knowing the answer. 

“No way that’s-“

“Yeah?” Varian looks up into Rapunzel’s eyes, shy as ever. 

Cassandra went silent, her mouth dropped. She stared into shock. Varian was a fourteen year old kid-not  _ four! _ This couldn’t be real-could it?

“Could it be a coincidence? Similar kids with the same name?” Eugene didn’t seem to sound like he was convinced by his own thought. However he still talked.

“Varian, do you know what happened to you?” Rapunzel asks the boy.

Varian pauses to have a thought but ultimately shakes his head. He looked clueless. More clueless than the people surrounding him.

“Varian, do you remember anything?”

”My name is Varian. I’m four and a half. This is Ruggider-“ Varian gestures to the Raccoon in his arms. “My bestest friend!” The raccon chirps in agreement. There’s a pause, Varian’s blue orbs looking deeply into Rapunzel’s green ones. Disappointment flashes across her face. That’s when Varian asks, “Are you my mommy?” 

This question sends a hot red flame all over Rapunzel’s face. One second she was the most hated person in Varian’s life and now she was being asked if he was her mom? What the heck was even happening anymore?

“No sweetheart. I’m not your mom.” Rapunzel could see the kid’s hope deflate before her eyes. The kid’s gaze flies up to the two other adults. They stare at him with disbelief. 

“Am I in trouble?”

“Uh...no—“ Rapunzel clears her throat. “—no you’re not.”

Eugene and Cassandra glanced at each other, communicating through their facial expression. 

_ Is this really happening? _

_ How the heck am I supposed to know? _

_ What happened? _

_ I don’t know- _

“Hey,” Rapunzel picks up the boy’s chin gently, making him look at her, “how about you come with me? What do you say?”

“I’m not supposed to talk to strangers.”

“That’s right!” Rapunzel hesitates, flashing a nervous smile. “However I think it’s okay just this one time if you follow us. We want to help you.” 

Varian nods. That seems fine to him. He had nowhere else to go. He trusted this lady. She was nice. Rapunzel held her hand out, offering it to Varian. 

He takes it without hesitation.

  
  
  


* * *

  
  
  


The hectic- _ ness  _ for the morning only grew.

Word spread fast around the castle of the current predicament that cursed them. Rapunzel only had been in the castle for a few minutes when her parents barged into her room. Their expressions morphed the anger to shock. In their daughter’s hand, a child. However not just any child, no this was the kid who kidnapped their precious Queen and destroyed so much. 

“What’s the meaning of this?” The question cuts through the air like a sharp knife. Her father looked to be in no mood for common decency. 

“Maybe we should talk outside,” Rapunzel tells them, nodding her head over to little Varain beside her. 

“We can’t leave him alone!” Cassandra tells her almost instantly. 

“He won’t be. You and Eugene will be here,” Rapunzel picks up the child, placing him into the arms of whoever was closest. That happened to be Eugene. The ex-thief held the kid out like he was some sort of dangerous leech that if he got too close would kill him. They couldn’t argue their job as Rapunzel already began to walk out with her parents.

“You’ve got this, don’t you  _ Fitzherjerk _ ?” Cassandra asks him, stepping away. 

“Oh no you don’t  _ CassAndra _ !” Eugene steps in front of the handmaiden with a very unamused glare on his face. “You’re not leaving me with child duty!” 

“I don’t know if you know this, but children aren't exactly in my job description.” 

“Neither is it in mine but here we are!” Cassandra rolls her eyes, groaning. Of course Eugene never made anything easy for her. He just had a knack for this. One of his many unfortunate traits.

“Fine! You owe me!” Cassandra adds a little growl at the end to make sure her point went through.

  
  
  
  


* * *

  
  
  
  


“Mom, Dad, I couldn’t just stand back. Varain is my friend-“

“He’s a criminal!” Fredrick replies harshly, ice trickling in his voice. He wasn’t Varian’s biggest fan, that was clear. 

“ _ He’s a kid! _ ” Her words slip. 

“How did this even happen? How is he…” Arianna struggled to finish her words.  _ ‘A toddler again’ _ she was gonna ask. Though she lost trail of her voice, her question was clear. 

“I-I don’t know...we just found him in the woods after following Ruggider,” Rapunzel explains, her head bowed. 

“The boy must have done some magic! He's tricking us!” 

“ _ Fredrick _ ,” Arianna sighs.

“Varian is _-er_ ** _was_** an alchemist! He doesn’t do magic!” Rapunzel argues. “Not to mention he doesn’t remember anything!” Her fist clenched at her side, her cheeks flaming up. 

“He could be lying! Let’s not forget what he’s done! He’s still a criminal!” 

“You can’t be considering imprisoning a child  _ again _ !” Arianna speaks up, cutting Rapunzel off from her moment. “If what our daughter says is true, then pushing a clueless child into a cell with hardon criminals is inhumane!”

“That boy did this to himself! He wants to get into our minds, Arianna! He thinks Corona won’t imprison a child-we must prove him wrong!”

“Absolutely not!” Rapunzel’s voice is dangerously low. “I won’t let you throw him into jail!” 

“ _ Rapunzel- _ “

Rapunzel backs away, glaring daggers at her parents. Never had she looked at this anger before. None of the two could ever recall a moment such as this. 

“If you’re going to throw him into a cell, then I’ll be leaving this castle with him!” 

There was a heavy uncomfortable stiff silence. Nobody raised a voice. Nobody could. It was as suffocating as a coffin buried six feet down into the dirt in there. The Guards inside looked like they would rather be anywhere but there. 

“So? What is it?” Rapunzel challenges. 

Fredrick looked like somebody was pulling his tooth out. His eyes were lasers with fire burning. A vein popped on his forehead to show off the burning turmoil inside him.

“We can't just let a criminal roam free,” Fredrick’s thin voice cuts through. “He must be under observation by Guards at all times. No acceptions.” 

Despite the resolution, the situation was still heated. It was like a room full of cats with their backs hunched over, watching each other with their hawk eyes. 

“I hope you know what you’re doing.” Rapunzel was dismissed. With her head down, brows knitted with a determined fierceness that couldn’t be measured, she walked away. The further she got, she found it impossible to shake the burning glares of her parents behind her.

  
  
  


* * *

  
  
  


“ _ Do not move from this chair! _ ” 

Eugene sat on a chair, eyes on his nails. He was bored out of his mind. He spares a glance towards the small child sitting on a chair by the window with a Racoon on his lap. He didn’t seem too bothered. His legs swung in the air, serving as a reminder of the kid’s age. He traced the kid’s gaze to the large glass door. The sun that once blessed the land faded into darkness. He made sure the kid ate something, giving him a ration of jerky he kept for a good reason that he won’t ever explain. 

“You want it?” Eugene waves the piece of jerky around, like bone to a dog, his voice higher than its been. The boy’s eyes follow the piece, clearly intrigued. “Do you want the jerky?” 

“It’s not a dog Eugene.” Cassandra reminds him, her voice distant. 

Momentarily distracted, Varain grabs the jerky from the older man. Yeah, safe to say Eugene didn’t do good with kids. After that, it was back to waiting for Rapunzel, who was gone for longer than anyone expected. 

_ Fun. _

Silence was always his worst enemy. He glances at Cassandra who made it her life duty to glare at the small child. 

“Glare any harder and you might actually have an aneurism.” 

“Shut it cheekbones,” Cassandra grumbles, eyes still on the seemingly innocent child. 

“Trying to pick a fight with a toddler? That’s a new low, even for you,” Eugene pries, eyes still on his friend’s face. 

“Don’t you think it’s odd?” Cassandra asks, ignoring anything he previously said. “He’s an Honest Jack one moment and the next he’s a child with no memory?” 

“ _ Duh _ . The whole thing is odd.” 

This seems to be some sort of green light to the warrior, as she stands with her held high. Before Eugene could stop her or ask her what she was doing, the feisty woman was already by the kid’s chair, arms crossed.

“Alright Varian. No more lying,” Cassandra grabs the kid’s chair, pulling him back so she could be face to face. “You may have fooled Rapunzel but you can’t fool me. I see through this little act of yours.”

“ _ Cassandra! _ ” Eugene is on his feet, grabbing the handmaiden by the arm. “ _ Stop it! _ ” 

“What’s the big deal?!” Cassandra is forced to drop the chair so she could face Eugene with an unappreciative glare. “I’m trying to get answers!” 

“Look at him! He doesn’t know anything!” Eugene gestures to the kid. However little to his realization, the kid was gone. No longer sat on the chair with an obedient figure. 

“Where did he go?!”

“I don’t know!” Both of them share a look. 

Nothing had to be said. Eugene checked under the bed as Cassandra took to the closet. Nothing. It set an uncomfortable wave. 

“I knew it! Little brat was lying!” Cassandra throws the doors to the closet close, growling like a nasty dog. 

“Or he’s running scared because Mademe Ice Demon decided to show her fangs!” 

“I told you, I was trying to get answers!” 

“Oh well look how well that turned out!” Cassandra grabs Eugene, about to smack him as hard as she could when the door to the room opens. Both of them are greeted to the sight of a very unhappy Rapunzel with a trembling child in her arms. 

“We’re so dead,” Eugene mumbles. 

Cassandra lets Eugene go, facing the princess with a red face. She tries not to seem embarrassed but her face seemed to like to ignore instructions. It’s red flare was a dead give away.

Varian whimpers at the sight of Cassandra, turning his head into Rapunzel’s chest. His thumb went straight into his mouth for comfort. 

“ _ Rapunzel- _ “

“Don’t.” Rapunzel’s voice was jagged and raw. It sent shivers down their respective backs. With a low head, Cassandra walks out, passing the two. 

Eugene makes a point to stick his tongue out after the low handmaiden. He then turns to find Rapunzel’s cold eyes glaring at him.

“ _ Blondie- _ “ 

Wordlessly, Rapunzel gestures to the door. No room for debate. Eugene is forced out, not wanting to face his girlfriend’s wrath if he didn’t. 

Then they were alone.

  
  
  
  


* * *

  
  
  
  


Rapunzel sets Varain down on her bed, she made sure the boy was laying down, pulling up her blankets over him. 

“Comfortable?” Rapunzel asks.

Varian nods, confirming that he was indeed comfortable. His small hand balls around the end of the large blanket, clutching it. 

“Good.” Rapunzel smiles. An honest good smile. She brushes the strands of hair in her face back, resting them behind her ear. She moves to get up when suddenly a small voice cuts in,

“Can you sing?”

“ _ Huh? _ ” Rapunzel looks at the child, bewildered. She didn’t actually hear him ask did she? Had she imagined it?

“Can you please sing?” Varain asks once again, this time his face full of shy energy. His hand fiddles with the end of his blanket like it was a toy. “ _ You don’t have to- _ “

“Of course!” Rapunzel replies, far too happy as the request. “I’d love to.”

Varian turns his body so he’s looking at the princess. His big blue eyes studied her intently as he waited for the singing to behind.

“ _ La la lu, La la lu… _ ”

Rapunzel’s soft voice is like honey. It’s sweet goodness pouring out in a slow drip. 

“ _ Oh, my little star sweeper… _ ”

Rapunzel’s hand gently brushes Varian’s stray strands of hair out of the way of his face. She rubs his cheek down gently, her soft warm skin making him smile.

“ _ I'll sweep the stardust for you… _ ”

Varian’s eyes begin to drift. He starts to lose focus, his eyes begging to close. Yet he tries no to give in. He wanted to listen. Yet the princess’s voice was like a siren, pulling him closer. 

“ _ La la lu, La la lu… _ ”

With a small book to the nose, Rapunzel’s eyes drift to the window blinds. She stares at her curtains, their soft silk covering the view of the dark world. 

“ _ Little soft fluffy sleeper… _ ” 

Varian couldn’t hold it any further. His eyes slowly creak shut, his blue eyes disappearing behind his eyelashes. 

“ _ La la lu, La la lu, Little wandering angel, _ ” Rapunzel’s voice only continues to entertain. “ _ Fold up your wings, close your eyes. _ ”

The princess glances at the small child. She notes the peaceful slumbering figure looked to be so gentle. Cute almost. How could it not? She could only help but picture Varian’s hatred born eyes glaring at her as he tried to kill her. This was nothing like the boy she knew. It was so calm. No pain. No misery. Just an innocence nobody could replace.

“ _ La la lu, La la lu… _ ” Rapunzel tucks the small child away into her blankets. That’s when she noticed Ruggider’s furry body pinned by Varian, fast asleep with a very passed out Pascal on his back. The sight sent a fondness in her chest. 

“ _ And may love be your keeper...La la lu, La la lu, La la lu… _ ”

The song is over and the peaceful snores of the company she had echoed. Without thinking, she places a gentle kiss on the boy’s cheek. 

“Sleep tight Varian,” She whispers gently. 

“ _ Night ‘Punzel, _ ” Varain mumbles drowsily, hardly moving an inch. He doesn’t open his eyes. He just falls back asleep without a beat. 

Rapunzel didn’t fall asleep feeling like a monster that night.

  
  
  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah, Rapunzel’s dad is a douche bag. Don’t know what else to say about that other then he kinda got a point. He still is an ass though. 
> 
> Also the lullaby is from Lady and the Tramp for those who don’t know. I thought I’d let Rapunzel sing it to Varian cause it’s so soothing to hear idk.
> 
> ANYWAYS, thanks for reading! Hope it’s good 😰


	3. Morning Pancakes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Morning after.

“ _ Rapunzel! You promised! You promised! _ ”

Betrayed eyes, desperate expressions burn in her mind. 

“ _ Rapunzel... I used you! I begged you and this kingdom for help! Everyone turned their back on me! It has to be this way! _ ”

Anger filling the room, resentment stronger than any supernatural power. 

“ _ Sorry, Princess, but I know firsthand how well you keep promises. _ ”

Betrayal. Pure betrayal.

“ _ It's not enough until you endure the same amount of pain and agony I have! _ ”

Everything around her trembles. The world is closing in on her. She doesn’t want to do it. She doesn’t want to-

**_GASP!_ **

Rapunzel’s eyes fly open. Every muscle in her body tenses as she flips around. Sheets go flying and any sort of calm that was in the room was gone. Her green alarmed eyes meet alarmed blue. 

“I-I’m sorry!” Varian backs away, terrified at his own actions. He cowered away, cursing his actions. 

“Varian!” Rapunzel breathes out, mentally cursing at herself. The little boy cringes at the mention of his name like it was some foul thing to be named. “It’s okay...I didn’t mean to alarm you-“

“I’m sorry for waking you up,” Varain mumbles shyly. 

“You don’t have to be sorry. You did  _ nothing _ wrong.” Rapunzel tries not to seem affected when the boy shrinks at the sight of her hand coming towards him. She pulls back, biting her lip.  _ Dammit _ , she already messed this up. 

_ Knock, knock. _

Rapunzel’s head rises up, aware of the noise. The sight of her door opening sends her body into a shock. Her back reels up, straightening itself, shoulders lining. 

The sight of the Queen was the last thing she expected. Her mother, Arianna made her way inside her room, face empathetic.

“I thought I should be the one to tell you, breakfast is ready.” 

Arianna’s eyes drift to the side, landing on Varian. Her motherly tone seems to change, her back straightening out like she was facing off some evil criminal. She stares at him for a moment longer like he was some sort of alien. 

“Varian and I will be down in a bit,” Rapunzel cuts through, clearing her throat. The tension was thick but unlike her father, Arianna didn’t make a scene. She nodded, walking off with a dejected expression. 

Once the door closes, Rapunzel’s shoulders fall. Like this weight was gone and the tension poured out of her like a river. 

“She’s pretty.”

“Huh?” Rapunzel looks at Varian, surprised. Man this kid loved to surprise her whenever he could. However the kid didn’t seem to notice this. All he said to follow up was, “I hope my mommy is that pretty.” 

As if by some miracle, Ruggider appears from god knows where, head popping out from underneath her bed. 

Rapunzel realized only that moment that she didn’t know much of Varian’s life. All she knew for sure was that Quirin was his father. His mother didn’t seem to be around, gone from this small family like a shadow. Varian never talked about her and she never asked. This revelation to like pin into the heart, slowly pushing inside her before ripping itself out, pouring blood out. 

“Let’s get ready for the day, how about that?” 

Varian just nods.

  
  
  


* * *

  
  
  


After helping the kid clean his teeth, Rapunzel dragged him along to the Royal Chief. She looked a bit shocked at the sight of the Princess considering she had just served breakfast. 

“Princess! What are you doing back here? I already finished your breakfast-“

“I know! I’m just here because there’s one more order to take?” Rapunzel steps aside to reveal little Varian. 

“Oh! Who’s this little boy?” The Chief looks down at the boy, eyes sparkling. 

“This is Varian! He’s gonna be staying with us for a bit!”

Varian eyes the woman with a judging eye. It was almost comedic how much sass this kid could carry despite not having said a word.

“Well, nice to meet you Varian!” 

“I just want him to make his order if that’s not too much.” The Chief nods, pulling out a large bowl out from under her. 

“I’m sure I can whip something up.” The Chief gestures for the kid to wish away. Have his order taken like royalty. However the kid refuses, trying his best to squirm away behind Rapunzel.

“Varian!” Rapunzel tried to move away so the kid could be front and center. However Varian wasn’t having any of it. 

“Ah, a shy one you got there I see!” Rapunzel just lets out an airy chuckle, feeling her face turn red. She manages to grab the sneaky child, holding him over the hip. She thought at least now the kid would stop hiding. How wrong she was.

Varian dug his face seeping into Rapunzel's chest, refusing to even acknowledge his name even being called. 

“Come on Varian! Don’t you want to order breakfast?”

Rapunzel awkwardly tries to maneuver around the child in her arms. For such a small child, he had a very strong grip. 

“Rapunzel!” Rapunzel’s eyes fly upward. 

At the door, Cassandra stood. She looked relieved to see her, a light flooding the worry struck eyes. The princess's first instinct was to comfort, ask her if she was alright. However with one glance at Varian, she remembered his terrified expression as he ran into her arms. 

Rapunzel doesn’t say anything. With a quiet and firm silence, she looks away. 

“Rapunzel…” Cassandra sighs, letting the door to the kitchen drop. It closes with a heavy thud. The kitchen is filled with an unspoken tension. 

Varian recognised the voice, shifting so that one eye looks out. It was the scary lady from earlier! In the day, she looked less terrifying. No dark shadows to loom over her face. No light making certain features pop out like a scary nightmare. Yet he doesn’t speak to her. He just watches her.

Cassandra took a few steps before noticing a familiar kid in the Princess’s arm. She sighs, guilt flashing over her face.

“Rapunzel, you can’t just disappear like that. I have special orders to-“

“I’m sorry Amanda,” Rapunzel apologized to the Chief, “Do you mind if I let Varian stay here while I take a step outside?”

“No problem! I could use the company!” Rapunzel gives a quick thankful smile, setting down the child onto the table. Though, leaving him wasn’t gonna be easy. He had a grip on her, pulling her back. 

“No…!” Varian didn’t want Rapunzel to go. Last time she did it didn’t end so well for him. He kept his small fist wrapped around the sleeve of her dress, determined to keep her here.

“Varian, I’ll be right back,” Rapunzel comforts, trying her best to put the child at ease. 

Varian pouts, giving the princess the best puppy dog eyes that he could muster. He lets out a small whine, but his grip on her sleeve loosens.

“Varian I promise I’ll come back, I’d never leave you alone for longer than I have to.” The words leave Rapunzel’s mouth without much thought. However replaying those words, she feels a sting. It only got worse as she looked into the toddlers eyes.

Varian seemed to freeze. His clenched fist no longer holds the shear strength he had before. The boy lets go, hesitantly taking back his hand. 

Rapunzel didn’t want to leave now. She wanted to hug the boy, apologizing for everything she possibly could even if he might not understand. However she feels Cassandra’s gaze burning through her skull. 

With a quick turn, she headed out. Right behind her, Cassandra followed. The lady-in-waiting made it to the door, pausing. She glances at the small boy on the counter. His eyes were on the door,  _ on her _ . Seconds pass of eye contact before the woman pushes past the door, leaving behind the face of an old friend.

“Say, why don’t we get your order ready?” A sweet elderly voice echoes. 

Varian turns to look at the Chief, who gave him the friendliest smile she could. He stares into her eyes for a few seconds, before nodding.

  
  
  


* * *

  
  
  


“You should have never left the room without telling me! The King instructed that I watch over you and Varian!”

Rapunzel walks down the lonely castle corridor with Cassandra hot on her tail. She’d much rather pretend that she wasn’t hurt that Cassandra was only speaking to her because of her orders. 

“Raps, are you even listening to me?! I thought something bad happened under my watch!” 

Rapunzel stops in her tracks. She doesn’t turn right away, keeping her gaze on the floor. She turns, eyebrows knitted and eyes glaring.

“Cass, I love you, I really do, but I think you know me a bit better than that!”

“Look, you just left without waking up Phil and- _ ugh _ , just don’t do that ever again!” Cassandra looked exhausted. Like this was the only time she could breathe out. 

“I’m sorry if I worried you. I just wanted Varian to have a peaceful morning. I didn’t want him to deal with Royal Guards first thing in the morning.”

“That isn’t your choice. He’s still a criminal. He made a choice.” 

“Well we didn’t give him much to choose from!” Rapunzel didn’t justify Varian’s action. What he did was wrong. Kidnapping the Queen, trying to murder them-it was terrible. However she understood why he did it. Rapunzel chose Corona over him. She fulfilled her duties as Queen but flunked as a friend. Because of that, Varian’s father paid with his life. Had she chose to go with him, help, maybe things would’ve been different. He had every right to be angry. He was pushed aside by the people he was supposed to trust. So he did the only thing he could, attack.

“He almost killed you!” 

“That was in the past! This Varian right now couldn’t hurt a fly!” 

“You don’t know-“

“No, you don’t know!” Rapunzel shoved her finger onto Cassandra’s chest. “Varian was hurt!  _ Badly! _ It’s our fault he turned! Right now, I’m trying to help him instead of turning my back to him!” 

Cassandra is taken back. Never had the princess present with such an anger towards her. The fire in her eyes was enough to burn her skin. Her mouth falters, words dying in her throat. 

“Come talk to me when you stop acting so...brash!” Rapunzel blurts out, pushing past her best friend. No longer just the sensitive happy princess walked. Now, she was something else. She was  _ human _ .

Cassandra watched the princess go, fist curled tight. Her jaw clenched, and eyes distant. She ponders for a moment, questioning whether she was on the right path. And if she was, what was it costing her?

  
  
  


* * *

  
  
  


Rapunzel returns to a very happy Varian covered in flour and batter. He hadn’t noticed her just yet as he was occupied watching the Chief poor batter onto a skillet. 

“Careful, the fire is hot below. I’d hate for you to get a nasty burn,” The Chief tells the boy, eyeing that awfully close hand to the stovetop. 

Rapunzel grows a few inches closer, feeling a smile across her lips.  _ Pancakes _ . She recognised that smell anywhere. 

The Chief flips the cook batter on its side, letting it cook a little while longer before transferring it to a plate with two other cakes. 

“Tah dah! _Des crêpes parfaites!_ ”

Varian’s eyes wide as he watches the stack of perfectly stacked pancakes get placed right beside him. 

“ _Princess!_ ” The Chief jumps, startled by the sudden figure of royalty. “You gave me quite a scare!” 

“ _ ‘punzel _ !” Varian looked as he had been granted a dozen gold coins. He jumped off the counter, giving everyone a mini heart attack in the process. His hands wrap around the Princess’s leg, squeezing tightly. “You came back!” 

“I told you I would, didn’t I?” Varian let’s go, holding his hands up. His hand makes a clutching motion, asking for her to pick him up.

Rapunzel chuckles, scooping up the child with warm arms. She couldn’t help but enjoy this Varian. Don’t get her wrong, she missed her old Varian, back before everything went wrong. He was always running machines, spewing smart comments and bashful smiles. Though he was also reserved, like there was some invisible wall she could never pass. It was always impossible. Now, there was no wall. This Varian was clingy, loving the princess. He wasn’t reminded of any pain when he looked at her. He was just happy.

But this wasn’t her Varian. Varian was fourteen for heaven sake. Whatever happened to him, she had to find a way to fix it. Turn him back. She couldn’t just turn her back on friend. Even if that meant he hated her guts for the rest of eternity.

“Say, how about we go enjoy breakfast in the library?” 

Varian nods, pleased with the idea. 

“Make sure to say thank you to the Chief for making this meal!” 

“ _ Thank you! _ ” 

“No problem, enjoy!” The Chief bids them. 

Rapunzel makes sure to mouth her thanks before grabbing the plate of pancakes with her one free hand. She walks away with a very eager Varian on her hip. 

“Ah...Princesses,” The Chief mutters with a smile as she watches Rapunzel leave. 

  
  
  


* * *

  
  
  


Rapunzel sits Varian down a chair with a stack of books underneath him. Unfortunately the library wasn’t made for kids his age which meant unreachable tables and large places to hide. Also, that meant two guards outside each exit. 

“Alright so I have to do some work, which means I’ll be busy. You can always ask a question if you have to use the bathroom or anything else. Got it?” Varian nods, nibbling on his breakfast. 

“Good! I’m gonna be looking for books so all you gotta do is say my name!” Rapunzel begins to inch away, one foot after another. Varian’s gaze only followed her a few steps before his attention shifted back to his breakfast.

Rapunzel turned into a book aisle, looking at the dozens of titles. All by different authors and with different purposes. She wasn’t quite sure where to start. There wasn’t exactly a section she could look at that specificity was about teenagers turning into children. Her finger trails through the dozens of spines, briefing through titles.

She’s down her third row and she notices a book labeled Corona. She pulls out the pale book, opening it up. 

_ ‘Map of Corona’ _

Ink was all over the first page. It painted an image of the Kingdom. However not only that, but outside it as well. She could see the surrounding areas like Old Corona and the Big Forest where they found Varian. She stares at the depiction of the forest. It’s dark mysterious ink casting only shadow. The light didn’t seem to hit it, sending an eerie chill down her back. 

She notices a small note on the next page beside it. 

“The Big Forest is known for its ominous existence. Sprouting in a day without explanation. At night, it’s said a magic lurks there, watching…” Rapunzel trails off, losing her words. 

After seconds of silence, Rapunzel shuts the book, pushing it back into its spot. She takes a moment to breath, before currently deciding to check on Varian. She walks out the aisle of books, expecting to see a very content four year old munching on some pancakes. Instead, she sees an empty plate and seat, no four year old to be seen. 

Varian was gone.

Rapunzel was about to panic when she heard a small voice echo. 

“ _ As this family of ducks began to quack and laugh at the ugly ducking, he waddled off again in search of a nicer family to call his own... _ ” Rapunzel follows the voice to the back of the library where she sees Varian sat crossed legged with a book in hand. His gaze fixed on the page below. “ _ Next the ugly duckling came to an even larger pond filled with a family of geese…!’ _ ”

Rapunzel sighs with relief, feeling her body reel. Of course he was still here. Varian just had his head in a book. Like always. 

Rapunzel decides it best to leave him to read. She knew he was safe and that’s all that mattered.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TRANSLATION KEY:
> 
> Des crêpes parfaites! - Perfect pancakes!
> 
> Note- I know the story the Ugly Duckling wasn’t technically created during their time period but this is a fanfic so...ANYTHING IS POSSIBLE WITH THE POWER OF IMGAINATION!
> 
> Second Note- Thanks for all the support. I didn’t think a lot of people would like this story so I’m a bit shocked it kinda grew in the limited amount of time. So thanks for that. I do read through comments and enjoy what you guys say. Anyways that’s enough for today, THANKS FOR READING!


	4. Midnight Panics

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Eugene can’t sleep and finds himself roped into a long night of crazy stuff.

Night had fallen over the kingdom. Peaceful snores echo throughout, dreams drifting in the wind. 

Rapunzel laid silently on her bed, her chest rising and falling in a repetitive trance. Numb to the world around her, she was far gone into the land of dreams. Beside her, blankets peeled open with an empty spot.

  
  
  
  


* * *

  
  
  
  


Eugene couldn't sleep. 

Now don’t get him wrong, sleeping was usually his favorite thing to do. However after being kicked out of Rapunzel’s room, he found it mighty difficult to induce some shut eye. He stares at the closed window in the guest room, sighing. No sleep for the wicked he guessed. 

No longer able to bear being laid on the cushioned bed, he throws himself up. Maybe a walk would get him to fall asleep. With a boring sigh, he walks to the window, pulling open the shades. 

The night sky is as boring as ever. However better looking at the sky then the wall. He could see all of Corona from up here. As well as the front castle. It was pretty dark except for the moon’s luminous light shining down on them. 

Eugene isn’t sure what made him look down but he’s sure glad he did. Down below, in the castle front courtyard a shadow moves. It’s notably small but very prominent. He’s pretty sure no shadows are supposed to move unless they were living.

Eugene slides on his boots, putting on a warm coat. He didn’t need to add hypothermia onto his list of problems. Maybe he was stupid for this. However he needed to see what was down there. It could be something serious for all he knew.

Rushing through the dead castle with nothing but his pajamas and coat, he holds a candle for light to see where he was going through this place. If he didn’t have it, he’d probably have gotten lost. This castle was worse than any maze. Wander around for too long, you could lose yourself. He would know!

Eugene reaches the bottom and practically speed walks to the entrance door. He stops for a moment, questioning if he should do this. He really shouldn’t be wandering about, one wrong move and he’ll be thrown into a boot wagon without a doubt. 

Curiosity gets the better of him. Eugene pulls the door open, looking out into the courtyard. His eyes scan the place for not even a second before seeing something odd. In the center of the arch entrance stood something. It didn’t seem to be looking at him, but out. Out into the Kingdom. 

Eugene steps out, trying to get a better look. He couldn’t see much other than darkness. He steps closer, closer and closer until his eyes get a better view.

  
  


What he sees stops the  _ Ex- _ Thief dead in his tracks, squinting to get a better look. To his dismay, he recognized Varian to be the weirdo under the arch. Not only because of his black hair but by the sheer size of him. He was  _ MUCH _ short now making it easier to identify him. 

Not sure what to do, he glances back and forth between the entrance and arch. Before he could debate it, he steps towards Varian, walking over with a cautious step. He wasn’t quite sure what was happening and didn’t want to do anything to make matters worse. He’s close enough where he could touch the kid. So he reaches out with a shaky hand, god why does this make him so nervous?

“ _ Varian…? _ ” Eugene calls out. 

The kid doesn’t react at first. His gaze off into the unknown. His expression is blank. It was almost scary how still he was. Not even a flinch. To make matters worse, his candle blows out. Victim to the icy cold Corona wind. 

His hand grabs Varian’s shoulder.

Like a rope, his hand pulls the small toddler out of his trance, eyes snapping upwards to look at Eugene’s eyes. He seemed surprised to see him. As if he didn’t know he would be there when he looked up.

_ Freaky. _

“Hey,  _ Varitoss _ , what are you doing out here?” Eugene cringed at how nervous his voice sounded. Did he sound like that all the time when something weird happens? 

_ Blink. _

Varian’s eyes pull away, looking off into the distance again. He looked just as confused and lost as Eugene did. His silence only added to creepiness. 

That’s when he noticed Varian’s bare feet. Kid looked like he just woke up and decided to stroll through the Castle Yards. Still in the silk pajamas crafted for him by the Royal Seamstress. 

“Wow, I didn’t take you for a Borachio.”

The joke didn’t pan through. It’s only response is silence from the young boy, his eyes traveling from the dark outdoors to the ground. 

Eugene sighed. This was going nowhere. He was starting to freeze and frankly couldn’t understand how the child before him hasn’t become ice. He was wearing a coat while Varian was barefooted and in pajamas. 

“Look, Varian, I’m freezing. I can’t feel my hands. Let’s go inside before we catch something.” 

This draws Varian’s gaze. He seems to stare at him, considering what he said. Next thing the ex-thief knows, Varian reaches out. He grabs his hand, wrapping his tiny fingers around his. It makes the older man pause, his brain stuttering. He hadn’t expected that. Nope. 

Eugene doesn’t get any time to protest, he’s pulled away when the kid starts to walk towards the castle with an expecting expression in his eyes. He’s dragged along back as if he was the one found outside.

  
  
  
  


* * *

  
  
  
  


Eugene made hot chocolate.

The castle was barely any warmer than the freezing temperatures outside. With icicles for fingers and a partially numb face, he made the thick concoction. He basks in the heat from the open flames. He hands a cup to the boy set by the fire, wrapped in a blanket, offering him the sweet thick concoction. The boy barely wraps his small fingers around the handle, his other hand trying to balance the weight by holding its side. 

“What’s wrong?” Eugene asks, noting the hesitation. “Don’t kids like hot chocolate?”

Varian looks up at Eugene, his expression unreadable. However despite this, his gaze is heavy, piercing through the older man.

“What? Don’t tell me you hate chocolate...” Eugene couldn’t help but feel out of his depth. Varian and him haven't interacted much before. He was just that one kid who liked to pop into his and Rapunzel’s life once and while. Until he kidnapped the Queen and tried to kill Rapunzel. In fact, he knew little to nothing other than the kid had a knack for explosions. No matter at what age, Eugene would always be out of his league. 

Seeing the older man’s disappointment, Varian’s gaze finally pulls away, looking down at the drink in his hand. At first, he sniffs it. The warm air hits his nostrils, expanding his lungs. After passing the sniff test, the small boy pulls the cup up to his lips. 

Eugene had gotten distracted by the weird scene by the sound of wind blowing outside. His gaze travels to the window. He can see the garden from where he stood. The dark sky hovering above the castle’s flowers. 

It was peaceful.

_ Yelp! _

Eugene's eyes snap away. His gaze falling onto the kid beside him. Mouth wide open, he was making uncomfortable whimpers, his hand fanning his mouth.

“ _ Oh-Uh- _ “ Eugene never wanted to hit himself more in the face.  _ Hot drink + small child= bad time _ . He couldn’t help but wish somebody was with him to tell him what to do. Rapunzel would never have let this happen, let him mess up like the uncoordinated man he was.

“Don’t cry!” Varian had started to sniffle, his eyes ducts reading the crocodile tears. Yet he doesn’t burst out, he listens to what the older man says, trying not to cry from the irritation.

“Hold on!” Eugene picks him up, holding him out as he runs towards the kitchen. Lucky for him, he hadn’t put out the candle in the kitchen. He sets the kid on the table before rushing to the cabinets. He looks through dozens of doors, trying to find something to help. By the fifth cabinet, he found something.

Eugene rushes back to the kid, instructing him, “Open your mouth!” 

Varian covers his mouth with both hands, shaking his head. Last time he took something from this man, his mouth got burned. He wasn’t gonna be a fool twice. 

“Do you want your mouth to feel better?” Eugene asks him, his impatience leaking through his tone. Varian nods. “Then open your mouth!” 

Varian hesitates. He doesn’t look like he’s gonna do anything for a few seconds before releasing his mouth and opening up. 

Eugene holds out a bottle of honey, pouring some onto Varian’s tongue. He lets the thick syrup drip down from the glass bottle, slowly descending into the child’s tongue. The kid flinches, giving a few impatient groans. He squirms on the table as the honey hits his sore tongue.

“Can you stop moving for like five seconds?!” Eugene didn’t mean to snap, but the tension in his chest made it impossible to think clearly. He had so many thoughts running in his mind. 

Varian jumps away at his tone, his once calming figure shattering. Like a puppy touched by hot boiling water for the first time. He shuts his mouth, slipping away. This causes not only honey to dribble onto the clean floors, but more importantly, Varian to run. 

“Wait!  _ Shi- _ “ Eugene rushes to put down the bottle of honey, stopping it from creating a bigger mess. The kid was faster than he looked, throwing himself off the kitchen counter, and rushing out the door. 

Eugene moves to follow, but just to his luck, the wind is thrown out of him the dribbles of honey makes the man lose his traction. 

**_Groan._ **

“I think I just broke my everything…” Eugene mumbles as everything stills. On the floor, defeated by a sweet syrup. 

  
  
  


* * *

  
  
  


The castle was ominous. 

Light from the moon floods the windows, highlighting through the room. Despite this, it was difficult to see through to navigate. A child could be sold against the wall and he could pass without recognition.

“ _Varian_ ,” Eugene calls out, lowering his voice. He tried to be as quiet as possible while still being heard. Last thing he needed was the whole castle on guard. Yeah, believe it or not, Eugene wasn’t a fan of watching children getting hunted down like mice. A kid was a kid, despite it being the same kid who tried to destroy Corona.

“Come on hairstripe, this isn’t hide and seek time.” Eugene gently steps forward, looking around. It was feeling hopeless. That’s when his gaze catches something. A figure at the end of the hall.

_ Ruggider _ .

Light traced the raccoon’s body, bouncing off him. He sat at the end watching him. His eyes directly on the human.

“ _Hey!_ ” Eugene moves toward the animal, reaching out. However in doing that, the raccoon gets on all fours, moving away. Like a cat with a string, he chases. Every cell in his body wanting to catch the raccoon. 

He makes it to the end of the hall where the raccoon had once sat, his gaze drawn to the left. The raccoon seemed to have been waiting for him to look because once their gaze met, the raccoon walked to a door.

**_Sniff, sniff._ **

The door suddenly creaks open and a small hand grabs the fluffy mammal, pulling him inside. Eugene was relieved. So the kid hadn’t gone off and ran outside or something. He was hiding. He tried not to feel ashamed at the fact it was him who drove the kid to this point. He walks towards the door, noting the sign that read ‘ _ Maid’s closet’ _ . 

**_Knock, knock_ ** **.**

There’s a gasp, then silence. It was so quiet that a pin could drop and everyone could hear it. This wasn’t going to be easy. What was he supposed to do when the kid was terrified of him? He pauses. The kid did like Rapunzel. What would Rapunzel do?

A thought crossed his mind. 

“Varian…” Eugene speaks up, his eyes distant. “Can I come in, please?” The  _ ‘please’  _ was added last second like a forgotten  _ ‘thank you’ _ .

Seconds pass and soon the edge onto minutes. There isn’t a response and the man begins to think this wasn’t gonna work. Maybe he should just wake Rapunzel like he should’ve done earlier as soon all this begun. 

**_Creak._ **

The closet door creaks open just a smidge. An invitation. The older man slowly reaches out, as not to scare the kid again, and pull it open. Light from the outside pours into the pitch black room revealing an upset child curled at the end of the small room, clutching his raccoon like a life line. He was shaking and wedged into a tight spot. The closet was barley big enough to be considered a room. Brooms and dustpans fill it, taking away any space it had. Of course a young child would squeeze themselves in here. Nobody else would torture themselves with the pain of going in with them.

Unfortunately, Eugene wasn’t most people. He sucked in as much air as he could before wedging himself inside. His back was forced straight up and his legs bent awkwardly up as he slid in. It was tight and made Eugene wish he didn’t eat a lot at dinner earlier. 

“Geez kid, you know how to pick your hiding spots,” Eugene mumbles as he struggles to free his pinned arm. Once free, he could feel the blood start to circulate again. 

Varian didn’t seem to be in the mood for talking. He just pulled his body back in further despite the small space he was stuck in. Ruggider blinks, eyes stuck on the older man as he was crushed under the kids grip. His gaze turns into a glare.  _ Fix the mess _ , it tells him.

“Kid...I’m sorry for yelling at you.” Eugene felt like a cat thrown into the deep end of the ocean with the only given instructions to staying afloat is to swim. No long lecture. No visual class. Just a cat thrown into water with no experience in the terrain. 

“I shouldn’t have raised my voice.”  _ It was my bad.  _ He didn’t say that last part, thinking it would have been too inappropriate for an apology. “I was in the wrong. It’s just…”

Eugene trails off. He wasn’t sure where that sentence was going.  _ It’s just you kidnapped my girlfriend’s wife and terrorized Corona _ . His throat constricts, like a boa had wrapped itself around his neck, fitting him a choker. 

“Do you hate me too?” The question is abrupt, the tone downright miserable. Eugene glances at the kid, his face covered by the shadows of the room. However if he had to guess, he wasn’t all sunshine and rainbows.

“I don’t hate you-“ His tone is rigid. 

“You don’t have to lie to me.” His tone isn’t angry or bitter. It’s reserved. Acceptance. The kid accepted that Eugene may not like him like Rapunzel does. “It’s okay. Lots of people don’t like me.”

Eugene glances to where the kid would be sat. He must’ve moved more to the side because now the moonlight from the window in the hall cascaded onto his face. His eyes were trained on the ground, with his body pinned against the back. 

“Everyone looks at me like I’m a big scary monster.” Ruggider’s body presses closer to Varian’s, offering comfort in the only way he could. “‘Punzel tells me that it’s because they don’t know the real me but I don’t think it’s true.” 

Eugene felt pity. His heart felt heavy as shame rose within him. He hadn’t thought about how the glare of everyone would affect a kids mind. To be shunned by everyone who looks at you, with no idea of who they were or why. If that ever would have happened to him now because of his past, at least he knew he deserved it. This kid Varian didn’t. He didn’t remember his crimes. His threats. His actions. He was paying the price for a crime he didn’t even remember.

God actually being sympathetic sucked. Sometimes he found himself envying Flynn Rider and his usual selfish thoughts. At least back then he didn’t have to deal with this pain that came with being a good person. 

“Can you tell me why?” 

The spotlight was back on Eugene. His face felt like it was about to spontaneously combust. What was he supposed to say to that?  _ Oh yeah, you committed treason and betrayed Corona so everyone hates you, sorry _ . But not telling him would mean this kid would continue living with the shame of his past without even knowing it. 

When Eugene doesn’t answer right away, a coldness fills the room. 

“It’s okay, you don’t have to tell me,” Ruggider nudges Varian’s face, “You can go. I won’t make you have to be around me.”

“Kid, I don't NOT want to be around you-“ Eugene hits the back of his head against the cool wall, sighing. “It’s just...you remind me of somebody. You look a lot like them.” 

This captures the kid’s attention. Though not the answer he wanted, it was still something. 

“They...hurt somebody I really cared about. Then continued to do that until we stopped him.” 

“Why would somebody do that?” Varian asks. His voice is small, treading lightly across the icy situation. 

Eugene feels the boa come back for its revenge. God why couldn’t he answer a simple question?  _ That’s because you don’t know the answer _ .  _ You don’t know anything _ . This realization hits him like a shooting star from space. 

He doesn’t know why Varian did why he did. He just knew of what the kid did. All his actions but not a reason. Not the  _ why _ . He hadn’t even been bothered to ask. He just took it at face value. Sure the kid was kinda annoying when they first met, but he had gotten used to his present. Maybe he was a bit on the fence with his presence and dangerous experiments-but he wasn’t a villain. Nobody was just evil out of nowhere. 

It was laughable. Because Eugene used to look at the guards, angry that they couldn’t see he wasn’t just a scummy douche but a kid trying to survive. 

How could he have let this happen?

Sensing the tension, Varian treads back from the topic. He doesn’t press, and Eugene is thankful for that. He wasn’t sure how much more he could take.

There’s a few seconds of silence before the kid gets up. He draws in closer, sensing the internal conflict from within the man’s head. He sits right next to Eugene.

“I’m sorry that bad man hurt your friend.” Ruggider holds an awkward knowing gaze yet stays chitterless. He just lays on Varian’s lap, silent as a mouse. “He sounds scary.”

“No…” Eugene shakes his head. At this point he wasn’t even thinking about the small kid beside him. His mind was on his older counterpart. “He wasn’t scary, he was actually very...smart.” 

“Did you guys hang out a lot?” 

Memories flash. Through most brief and very short, most weren’t horrible. Infact, he found himself smiling at the memories despite the weight they carried. They gold fruit before it turned rotten. He had just been too caught up with him and Rapunzel to even realize it. 

“Not as much as we should’ve but we do share a lot of crazy stories.” 

Eugene goes on a speech, telling younger Varian about the times with his older self and the chaos that ensued. Though despite the terrible endings, the ex-thief found himself laughing quite a bit. Right at his side, his younger self listen with an open ears. 

  
  
  


* * *

  
  
  


Rapunzel searched the castle in a frenzy. 

She had woken up alone in a bed without Varian. She panicked. How could she have lost the small boy again? Why did he have to wander? She searched high and low until a guard gestures for her to see something near the maids quarters. She had refused outside, but told her it had to do with her missing child friend. She had rushed over to find giggling guards and amused maids. 

The sight wasn’t what she expected. She steps around the corner, looking over towards the open door. To her surprise, Eugene laid snoring away with his body contourtanted to fit inside the small closet with a raccoon sprawled across his chest. However even more surprising, beside Eugene was Varian, who laid asleep soundly, head resting on the older man’s shoulder.

Rapunzel felt any worry drain away and fill up with joy at the sight. It was such a heartwarming thing to see. She wished she could save this moment for time to come.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Funfact: I couldn’t spell comet for twenty minutes so I said “shooting star” in the book. That goes to show how smart I can be lmao. 
> 
> Anyways, this book is doing surprisingly well. I’m working on a separate book (a sequel to my first tangled fanfic) so this is kinda like my side invention. I have so much fun writing this because I kinda got to explore the relationships between characters and kinda trying to do them justice in this book. I hope I didn’t fail with Eugene. He was kinda fun to write though. I found myself laughing as I pictured this stuff in my head.
> 
> Anyways, thanks for reading! Till next time!


	5. Dinner With the Family

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Plans don’t always go the way they are suppose to. Rapunzel learns this at the worst moment possible.

Varian played in the garden.

His sight was taken by the science of life around him. Watching the honey bee take the pollen, ants march across the concrete steps, the sun reflect in the water ripples in the fountain. It kept his interest captivated. 

Meanwhile sitting on a stone bench across from him sat a familiar blond. In her hands, a map. She didn’t seem to be doing much with it but looking. Her interests on a specific part, the forest. The place that they found the small child. The only thing that would know what would’ve happened to him locked secret to the tall trees and blades of grass. 

For a moment, Rapunzel is distracted by the sight of a movement. She glances beside her to see Cassandra standing beside her, arms crossed, her face complex. She had been really locking down on the whole must be watched every second of the day rule her father placed. No more running free. However she didn’t wear her typical cold glare. She didn’t even seem to be watching a thing Varian was doing. She was distracted.

As if on cue, Cassandra speaks up. “He doesn’t remember anything?” 

For a moment, there’s a sign of unsteadiness. Confliction. A door cracked open that had previously been closed was now shining a bridge of light.

“He hasn’t shown any signs he does.” Rapunzel glances at the child. He didn’t look troubled like one would if he remembered anything. No anger. No bitterness. He just seemed like a normal kid. 

“Has he asked about his…” 

Rapunzel’s eyes fall. Her mouth is suddenly dry like a mouthful of cinnamon was shoved into her mouth left to suck up any moisture it could get its greedy spice hands on.

“No. He hasn’t.”

“What if he asks? What are you planning to tell him?” Cassandra asks, her own curiosity slipping.

Rapunzel knew all too well what happened to Quirin. She still remembered the sight of his body impaled by the black rocks. Despite knowing it wouldn’t work, Varian tried to get her to fix what she did. Bring him back like she did once before for Eugene. He thought that maybe if she just cried maybe her tears would be the answer. She cried but there was nothing.

No magic life altering scene.

No flecks of gold in the air. 

Nothing but what the universe gave them. She still recalls Varian’s blank expression as seconds ticked by. It was a mask to hide the turmoil of emotions fighting within him. His eyes were the window to the real Varian and Rapunzel caught a glimpse of the broken child.

“You don’t want to tell him.” 

“ _ Cass- _ “

“You’re getting attached to this version of Varian. The one that still loves you and worships you.” Cassandra was far from blind. She could tear down dozens of guards with just a few seconds of watching. She may not be alchemy smart but she was observant. She saw right through Rapunzel.

“It’s not like that. I’m gonna bring back the old Varian-“

“And then throw him back into jail again?” Cassandra presses on. “Can you do that after getting deeply attached to him again?” 

Where her hands held the map, the paper crinkled as her grip became iron. Her teeth dig into her lip as she tries to shield her face from Cassandra’s watchful eyes. 

“What if this was his plan?” Cassandra gestures to all around her. “Get you so attached to him again that you won’t throw him back in jail.” 

The guard’s gaze falls onto Varian. The kid had been mid  _ ‘gardening’ _ by digging a small hole into a free dirt plot and plopping in a seed he pulled from his leftover apple snack. Ruddiger had helped this process go, watching as the boy tried to plant something of his own.

“Now, it’s gonna grow Ruddiger! Then you can have all the apples you want!” Ruddiger approved of that, making an excited chirp. 

For a moment, Cassandra faltered. Out of all the tricks, why had this have to be the one Varian picked. She had preferred anything but this. Because if they did find out her prediction was true, it would crush Rapunzel. She had gone through so much for him. Standing up to her father, taking him in, and caring for him.

A betrayal now would break whatever Rapunzel had built. 

“Raps, I just don’t want you to end up on the rough side of the stick when this all ends.” 

“I’m not some fragile doll that’ll break after one hit!” Rapunzel doesn’t know where this anger comes from. However she does know that it’s been inside her for a while. Burning, and getting stronger. “I’m sick of everyone acting like I’m some fragile porcelain doll! I can take a hit or two!” 

Cassandra opens her mouth but shuts it. She didn't want to stir trouble. No, but she seemed to do a lot of that recently. That’s when something catches her eyes. Varian was looking straight at them, no longer focused on his mini Apple Farm. So much for secret conversation.

“Rap-“

“No, Cass!” Rapunzel didn’t want to hear it. “I thought you as my friend wouldn’t treat me like the others but I was wrong! You’re just as bad as my dad or even  _ Eugene _ at times!” 

“Rapunzel-“ Cassandra tried to stop her but was cut off again.

“I’m not special! I’m not important! I’m just like everyone else! Let me be like everyone else!” Rapunzel wasn’t sure why her eyes are stinging. Her answer is clear when she feels something wet drip down her cheek.  _ Tears _ . 

She hadn’t meant to say that to Cassandra. No, she had always been the happy camper. Fine with whatever came her way. However now, she felt hollow. Why? Cause those same words were the words she had wished she said to Gothel all those years ago. All those years being her special flower trapped in a tower with no sense of freedom. Now they were over flooding her and spilled out of her mouth to her best friend. 

She should’ve been silent. She probably made Cassandra hate her. She always messed things up. It was one of her traits. No matter how much she tries, she always fails. 

“ _ Rapunzel… _ ” Cassandra isn’t sure what to do of the situation, looking desperately over her best friend. She hadn’t wanted to make her upset but seemed to hit a sore spot in her digging. 

Rapunzel feels something grab her leg. She looks down to find a little Varian grabbing onto her leg, hugging her. Like some sort of comfort blanket wrapping around her. 

“Please don’t be sad,” Varian tells her, looking into her upset eyes. 

Rapunzel inhales deeply, trying to focus on the small body clutched beside her, focusing on his warmth. Then from her other side, something takes ahold of her hand. She looks to find Ruddiger clutching her hand for support.

“Raps, I’m sorry!” Rapunzel’s eyes meet Cassandra’s. There is no anger in her eyes. Just concern. Deep concern from her best friend.

“I’m sorry for yelling at you,” Rapunzel apologizes. 

“No. I was speaking out of line. It’s my fault,” Cassandra tells her. 

“How about it's both our fault?” Rapunzel offers. This makes the other give a small smile. Forgiveness on both ends.

“No more sadness?” A small voice piped in. 

Rapunzel glances down at the small kid below her. He still had a grip on her leg, giving her the infamous puppy dog eyes. 

“How can somebody be sad when looking at your cute little face! I just want to pinch those little cheeks,” Rapunzel replies fondly, acting out pinching his cheeks. This makes the smaller boy let go, holding both his cheeks protectively. He lets out a squeal, trying to run away. Unfortunately the princess had her height advantage at play and managed to pick up the kid as well as his sidekick raccoon. 

“Here comes the love monster!” Varian’s laughter echoes both of Rapunzel landing multiple kisses on his cheek as well as Ruddgier’s head. Of course, even the raccoon deserved some love. When it was over, all that was left was Varian’s leftover giggle fit. 

Cassandra watched the whole thing, trying her best not to cringe. She’d like to imagine it didn’t happen at all. All this lovey dovey stuff made her want to vomit. 

“I don’t ever want to see anything like that ever again.” Cassandra gestures to her mouth, pretending to vomit. 

“Awww, does Cassie need a visit from the hug monster?” Rapunzel teases. Beside her, Varian had finally calmed down and kept his gaze steadily on her. They hadn’t had the greatest relationship at the moment considering she yelled in his face. However since then, they hadn’t had much interaction but her presence when watching over them. She wasn’t even sure if the kid knew who she was.

“Absolutely not.” Cassandra glares, making her warning clear. She was not to be touched. 

However her warning was useless as five seconds later she’s pulled into a group hug. Rapunzel’s laughter fills her ears as well as her warm body. She’s squished right next to the raccoon,  _ Gross _ .

For a second, she catches Varian’s eyes. He seems to be smiling, laughing into Rapunzel’s arms.

Cassandra couldn’t help but feel a pit grow in her stomach.

  
  
  
  


* * *

  
  
  


Rapunzel paced around her room, her face scheming. She had set Varian down for a nap nearly an hour ago and now had time to think. 

A knock at the door makes the Princess jump. 

Rapunzel rushes to the door, ripping it open. Immediately shushing whoever made the noise. She expected to see Cassandra or another guard but was greeted with the face of Eugene with Cassandra stood behind him.

“Sorry Raps, I tried to stop him.”

“It’s fine Cass.” Rapunzel wasn’t mad. She was just glad that the racket didn’t wake the slumbering child. 

“Well you’re looking just...lovely,” Eugene compliments, laughing nervously.

“You try putting a kid for a nap, Fizherbert.” Cassandra snorts at the thought. 

“Yeah, I don’t do kids. That’s a big no-no.” 

“If I’m correct, weren’t you found in a closet with Varian at your side?” Cassandra points out with a knowing look. 

“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“Eugene, why did you come here?” Rapunzel asks. 

“What? Can’t a loving boyfriend come visit his lovely girlfriend?” Glaring suspicion. Something in Eugene’s voice made it clear that there was more to be said.

“Ugh,  _ fine _ .” Eugene’s shoulders drop. “Your Dad sent me to tell you he wants you to join them for dinner.” 

“He couldn’t send a servant or I don’t know, a real guard?” Cassandra asks. 

“I just so happened to be in the room, CassAndra!”  _ Shush! _

Eyes look towards the bed where soft snores came from. There’s a shift in the boy’s position but luckily no other action. 

“I can’t, I have to take care of Varian-“

“Why don’t you take the kid?” Eugene asks as if it was the simplest thing in the world. To which, anybody else it would be. However, to Rapunzel it was a terrible idea. She could only imagine the disasters that come from it! Her father would blow a casket if he saw Varian at the table! He would probably throw a fit about Criminals and Royalty not sharing the same table!

“My dad hates Varian. He still thinks of him as a criminal.” 

“So? Your dad hated me at first. Now look at him! He loves me?” Rapunzel didn’t miss Cassandra’s little eye roll. “Take Varian to change his mind!” 

“Like he’s listen to anything I have to say.”

“Then...let's say it together.” Eugene steps forward. “I’ll join you and Varian for dinner so you won’t be alone.” 

“Really?” 

“Of course! What are significant others for?” Eugene gives his famous smirk and it’s like a million bright lights filling her. She suddenly stands taller with determination.

Cassandra behinds then gags, pointing to her throat. 

  
  
  
  


* * *

  
  
  


Night hits fast. 

Time slipped from everyone’s head. Now everyone was sitting in quiet tension. The king and queen sat on the other side of the large table. Meanwhile, Rapunzel sat on the other end with Eugene and Varian at her side. The tension was high. She noticed her father consent hostile glares towards Varian grow more frequent. 

“I’m glad you could join us today, Rapunzel.” The Queen speaks, smiling. “You too Eugene and…” There's hesitation as her gaze falls on Varian. Her face was hard to read as emotions slipped past her eyes. “ _Varian_.” 

Varian looks up shyly, face red. His face hides behind Rapunzel’s free arm. However being the mannered child he was, he offered a small wave. 

“Thanks Mom.” 

“Yeah, I’d never miss a great royal dinner.” Eugene tries to lighten the mood but it falls flat when he looks at Fredrick. The King was a storm brewing into a hurricane. It was terrifying to look at. 

“So, how has been your day Eugene? I felt like we haven’t spoken in decades.” 

“Well, I’ve been keeping busy. Being a guard is a lot of work.” 

The Queen nods. That was some good news.

“However I don’t think I’ll be getting any Guard of the Month titles from the Captain.” 

“I’m sure soon you’ll both become good friends. Just you wait.” 

Eugene nods, offering his own hopeful grin. However the guard doubt that would be true. The Captain still had a bone to pick with him. Something tells him that the bone wasnt gonna just disappear soon.

Suddenly, Servants exited the kitchen, carrying serving trays bigger than her head, balancing plates of food.

“Your highness, today we have prepared the finest Dover Sole with fresh picked spinach and zucchini!” Plates were dropped in front of them with ease. 

“Thank the Chiefs for their work, won’t you,” Fredrick nods to the busboy. The other man dips his head in respect, before excusing himself. 

“Thank Grace for this meal,” King Fredrick announces. His majesty dips her head in acknowledgment and agreement. Everyone seems to do that except Varian and Eugene, who despite being with this family for a while hadn’t quite merged in well. As for Varian, he was too preoccupied with the fish eye staring at him from his plate. 

Heads rise, and it was time to eat. Rapunzel picks up her fork and knife, helping cut Varian’s fish into pieces. Last thing she needed for this dinner was for the kid to choke on a chunk of fish. 

“Alright, your dinner is ready Varian.”

To the princess' shock, the kid's nose scrunches up and his head shakes. His head turns away, refusing to even look at the dish. 

“Varian, you have to eat.” Rapunzel didn’t have the heart to sound firm. She was more on the edge of begging. When Varian only draws further away, she looks up to Eugene for help. Unfortunately for her, her boyfriend was too preoccupied filling his mouth with the kitchen's delicious flavors. 

“ _ Rapunzel _ .”

Rapunzel’s back straightens instinctively. She looks down towards her mothers and father's gaze. 

“How has your day been?” Her Father’s question was less threatening than she had expected. Far from it. Just a normal family question you ask over dinner. Nothing to it.

“I-It’s been well.” Rapunzel wasn’t sure why her voice was so tight. 

“I heard from one of the guards that you spent the day in the garden. One of the Groundskeeper said one of his plots was dug up. Do you know how that happened?”

Rapunzel was tempted to glance at the kid beside her but she held her gaze firmly on her father. “No. Must’ve been a squirrel or something. It’s about the time they hide their nuts, isn’t?” 

The King nods, accepting the answer. Though she notes a small shift in his body telling her that he didn’t fully believe her. 

“Wow, this food is amazing!” Eugene suddenly cuts in, plate almost freshly clean. He looked pleased with himself. “Blondie, have you tried the fish yet, it’s so much better than just the regular fish you’d find in the rivers!” 

Rapunzel glares at the other man.  _ So much for being helped _ . 

Eugene must’ve seen her face and realized that he may have been just a tad bit over invested in his plate. He lets out an awkward airy chuckle, glancing at the King and Queen. 

“Yes, Eugene, Dover Sole is quite the catch.” The King speaks, acknowledging the man’s words. He didn’t seem to be that upset at his burst out. 

Rapunzel’s attention is drawn when she feels Varian’s small foot graze her dress. Now that she looks at him, he’s holding both his fork and soup spoon (for god sakes, why were there so many implements for eating?!) 

“Rawr! Watch out Mister Forky!” 

“Varian,” Rapunzel snatches the two utensils from the boy's hand, “we do not play without utensils. They are not toys. We use them to eat.”

Varian barley makes eye contact with the fish before gagging. 

“You have to eat, Varian,” Rapunzel tells him lowley. She didn’t want her parents hearing this. They’d just use it against her.

“No!” Varain crosses his arms stubbornly, turning his face away. 

“Kid, I think if you try it, you might like it,” Eugene speaks up, implementing his help. He could see Rapunzel’s patience meter starting to fall. He did not want to see it completely out of steam. Then they’d all be in trouble.

Eugene didn’t have a high patience meter on the other hand. 

“How about you try it first-“ Rapunzel shoves the fish closer.

“No! I don’t wanna!” Varian shoves the plate away, making it clear that they would never be seeing eye to eye.

“For the love of-just eat the fish! There’s nothing wrong with it!” Eugene says a bit too loudly.

“Is there a problem?” Fredrick asks. 

Rapunzel feels every muscle inside her clench. No. Nothing was alright. But she wasn’t about to give her father the satisfaction in knowing that. 

“Everything is great! J-Just peachy!” Rapunzel forces a grin. 

“Oh really?” 

As if on cue, Varian stands on his chair. His chest puffed up. He raises a fork up, showing everyone that he was the one talking. 

“I will not fall for this Democracy!” 

“Varain!” Rapunzel and Eugene simoustanly exclaim. 

The boy jumps down before he could be grabbed. For a small kid, he was fast. Neither Rapunzel or Eugen could grab him before he sped off under the table. 

Rapunzel’s eyes meet her Father’s cold ones. His emotionless eyes were less telling than she hoped. She’s never felt so overwhelmed.

“Come here, you little-“ Eugene tried to reach to grab Varian. However that only made things worse. To everyone’s dismay, the kid lets out an ear piercing scream as he scrambles to get away from Eugene’s hand. In the process, he bumps into something. There’s a gasp. When Varian looks up he sees the cloth of purple dress. A face meets his. 

Varian didn’t know her name but all he knew was that she was Rapunzel’s mom. Arianna looked shocked at first but that was ovrride by a fond warm smile. One that was all too similar to Rapunzel’s. 

“Hello little one.” 

Eugene and Rapunzel were frozen with terror. Was this really happening. Were they awake? Or was this just a silly dream. Never had the princess wished so much for a pinch to wake her from this nightmare. 

“You’re causing quite the scene.” Varian doesn’t say anything but stare up with his large blue eyes. He just stares in awe and wonder. Speechless. 

“Come on out from under there. This is no way for a proper boy to be acting.” 

Varian immediately crawls out, head hung low in shame. Arianna doesn’t say anything right away. She just turns to the small boy, looking at him with with a stern yet warm gaze. 

“There. Now why have you decided to cause such a ruckus?” Arianna asks. 

“I-“

“I expect you to look me in the eye when you speak to me.” With a gentle finger, Arianna tilts the boy’s chin up. With no other choice, their gaze meets. 

“There. Now tell me why you decided to flounder about. You aren’t a cat so why must you run around and ignore Rapunzel and Eugene when they order you to stop?” 

“I don’t know…” Varian fiddles with his hands, unable to stop himself from it. 

“Well surely you must have a reason and it must be important if it makes you so upset.” Arianna reasons. 

“I didn’t wanna eat the fish...I’m sorry.” 

“Why not?”

There seems to be a pause. Hesitation. Then the kid steps onto his tippy toes, whispering into the Queen’s ear. She nods along to whatever the boy was saying as others watched this go down with shock. 

When Varain steps down, his face is begging. Whatever he told the Queen, he was desperate to hear a response. 

“I see,” The Queen nods. “How about we go ask the cooks to make you something else?” 

“Arianna-“

“Mom-“ The Queen is already on her feet, offering her hand. 

“Don’t worry, all of you please continue eating. Varian and I will just take a small field trip into the kitchen. Isn’t that right?” The small child nods, wrapping his tiny hand around the older woman’s palm. 

Rapunzel glances at Eugene who seemed to be caught speechless as well. They both take a seat back on their chairs, watching the Queen walk off with the child. Her gaze remains on the door they walk out of, eyes burning into a wood frame. Her fingers grip the cloth beside her plate, fingernails digging into the poor lifeless napkin. Her teeth dig into her lip as a sudden rush of bitterness passed through her. It isn’t until she feels Eugene’s hand on her shoulder did she realize that she had held her gaze too long. She clears her throat, looking down at her plate.

  
  
  


* * *

  
  
  


Rapunzel had waited for Varian to fall asleep before preparing herself for bed. She sat infront of her mirror, slowly brushing through the long thick blond locks that she dragged along. 

She isn’t as into it as she hoped she would be. Combing her hair was always a parachute, catching her before she could smack onto the ground. However the young princess wasn’t finding it easy. Her mind kept replaying the same moment in her head.

Her gaze on the mirror was stuck on the reflection of Varian fast asleep on her bed, snoring. It wasn’t no accident her eyes made it there. She couldn’t help but think of Varian whispering into the Queen’s ear and suddenly finding comfort in her. He hadn’t even known her mother! What made her so special that suddenly Varian found that he’d rather be with her? Rapunzel was the one who cared for him! She was the person who tucked him in at night! Not her.

It shouldn’t be a big deal. She must be blowing things out of proportion. It wasn’t Varian’s fault or her mothers. Things just happened. 

However despite that, she couldn’t help but feel like a pair for forgotten shoes left in the closet to rot. 

_ Knock, knock _ .

Rapunzel’s gaze looked up. To her dismay, her mother stood at the door, looking her deep in the eyes. 

“I just wanted to say goodnight to both of you-“ The Queen’s gaze falls onto the slumping figure on the bed. “But it seems I’m a bit late.” 

“It’s okay, mom. Goodnight,” Rapunzel replies shortly. 

The Queen takes this odd behavior as a sign that she should not just leave. Something was brewing with her daughter. She knew the signs faster than her own daughter could even recognize. 

“Is everything alright?” Queen asks, pressing closer. 

“I’m fine.” 

The Queen comes closer, careful not to step on her daughter's blond strands that were casted astray. 

“Usually when your father says that, it means the complete opposite.” 

“Well I’m not him!” 

There’s a heavy silence.

Rapunzel stops brushing her hair, eyes meeting the reflection of her mother. She was just looking at her, her gaze soft and full of compassion. No anger at her snapping. 

Rapunzel’s arms drop, shoulders falling flat. She couldn’t bare to look her mother in the eyes and instead focused her glare on the table in front of her.

“I’m sorry for snapping.” Rapunzel’s face is red with embarrassment. “I guess I’m not as good at being happy as I thought.”

“Sweetheart, it’s okay not to be happy. Nobody wants you to feel like you have to be.” 

“I know...it’s just hard not being happy. It’s like this nasty feeling is inside me and I just want it to go away but it only keeps getting worse...”

“You know, sometimes talking about helps that nasty feeling feel better.” 

“It’s stupid.” 

A comforting hand on her shoulder touches her. Her mother's warmth was enough to make her inhale deeply.

“Nothing you feel is stupid.”

“It’s just…” Rapunzel struggles to speak for a second, her eyes scanning the desk side to side as if some script was gonna magically appear to tell her what to say. “Why would Varian talk to you and not me? Did I do something wrong? Does he not trust me?” 

The Queen’s face lights up with realization. Her all knowing eyes fall onto her daughter's reflection. 

“You’re jealous that Varian was responsive to me and not you.” 

“I’m sorry, it’s stupid of me! Just forget-“ 

“No!” The Queen shook her head. “It’s okay! You’re right to be jealous! After all, you are the one caring for him and all.” 

Rapunzel falls silent, her gaze meeting her mother's reflected eyes. She waits with open ears to hear what was gonna be said. 

“I have no bearing on his life as far as he knows. I’m just a woman who exists in his life. You’re his caretaker.”

“You’re not mad?” Rapunzel’s voice is small. She expected to hear yelling or maybe her mother laughing in her face. However when none of that happened, she felt odd. Out of place.

“Of course not. You’re allowed to feel this way.” 

Rapunzel’s gaze falls. She wanted to kick herself so hard. Why would she admit to something that could potentially make her mother feel upset? It was stupid. She should’ve just shut her mouth.

“Rapunzel, a thing you’ll learn about with children is that they’re unpredictable at times. You can raise a child and love them unconditionally but sometimes they might not share certain things with you.” 

Rapunzel’s fingers intertwined, fiddling around. God had the room temperature increased? Or was it just her?

“Telling strangers can be easier than telling people you love for your problems because there’s no connection.” 

Rapunzel’s eyes lift one more time, searching for her mother's warm eyes. When they meet, she feels her body lift. 

“Varian loves you unconditionally. I can see it in his eyes. He looks at you like a child would their mother.” 

Rapunzel feels her face heat up at the last part. She knew Varian and her were close, however she had been blind to how close. She was technically his mother at this point. Always at his side, doting on him, loving him-all the things a loving mother would. It makes her mouthful dry. How did this even happen to her?

“Don’t hold it against him. Just because he shared something with me doesn’t mean his love for you is any less.”

“I know.” Rapunzel didn’t blame the kid. No, she could never hold that against him. She loved the kid too much. 

“Feeling better?”

“Yeah. Thanks Mom.” The two share a hug. It’s quick but full of love. Rapunzel smiles when they pull away.

“Well, I’ll leave you for the night. Sleep well love.” The Queen makes her way to the door, playing a game of hopscotch as she navigates through the sea of blond. She just makes it to the door when she heard her daughter asks,

“What exactly did he tell you?”

The Queen stops, glancing back at her daughter. She studies her daughters desperate eyes wanting to know the truth.

“He said that he didn’t want the fish’s babies to miss their Mom.” 

Rapunzel’s gaze falls back onto the table. There’s a silence as the Queen leaves and the door closes. All that’s left is the boys soft breaths as he drifts.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Before y’all hate me, I decided to go with a more realistic approach on Rapunzel’s behavior. Unlike in the show, I kinda dialed down her always happy nature cause I thought it’d be more realistic. HAPPY PEOPKE CAN BE SAD OKAY. 
> 
> Also, somebody told me I been spelling Ruddiger wrong to which-oops. I do write these and only give it a once over before sending it to the internet lol. So my spelling ain’t great lol but thanks to that person for telling me. I’ll try to improve on that. However there might be a lot of mistakes in this chapter because I barley finished typing it like an hour ago. I felt bad for not updating in a while cause I’ve been distracted. So yeah. Sorry. 
> 
> Anywho, thanks for sticking with me folks. See y’all next time.


	6. Mama

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rapunzel deals with her emotions with the help of her boyfriend. 
> 
> Meanwhile, things start to not be so peachy for the Kingdom of Corona.

Eugene wasn’t an easy person to catch. 

When he wasn’t helping the Royal Guards with guard things, he was usually trying to make amends with the people he’s wronged in the past. Whether it be planting something or fixing a window, he found a way to pay back the debt. 

However today he found to be the complete opposite. Nothing howled at the sky, calling for his help. He was just stuck. So he decided to do something else. 

Eugene didn’t do much searching before he heard a familiar voice from the kitchen.

“ _ Now, gently sift the flour into the bowl. _ ”

_ Cassandra _ . Now he hadn’t heard her voice in quite a while. He didn’t think he’d miss hearing her awful voice. Curiosity was pulling at him, taking him to the Kitchen’s door. With a gentle hand, he peels open the door, peaking in.

Cassandra was in the kitchen, dressed in her handmaiden outfit, looking as scary as ever. Sat beside her, a familiar toddler with blue eyes held what looked to be a sift full of flour over a bowl. He looked far too determined for a kid who was just sitting powder but he’d be lying if he didn’t say it was freaking cute.

“Say Varian, once you’re done, let Eugene give it a try since he’s so eager to join us.” 

Great. Demon Lady noticed him. Eugene didn’t want to seem disappointed, walking inside with a cocky grin. His plan? Play it cool.

“Looks like somebody finally put her fangs away!”

“ _ ‘Ugene _ !” Varian’s face split into a wide grin. He looked like he was about to jump off the table and come running towards him. 

“Hey stripe! At least you’re happy to see me.”

“Varian. Rules.” Cassandra’s voice was firm with authority. 

“No jumping off tables…” Varian sighs, giving a slight pout. 

“Thank you.” Cassandra removed her eyes off the child onto the other child. “Now Eugene, what on earth did I do to deserve to get cursed with your ugly mug?”

“I ask the same thing everytime I see your face.” 

Cassandra glares harder towards the other man. This was far from over. She had to resist the urge to rip the man apart.  _ Princess boyfriend, _ she reminds herself.

“ _ ‘Ugene! _ ” Varian claws for his attention, buzzing with excitement to see him. “Cassie and I are baking a pie!” 

From the sidelines, Cassandra’s face goes sour. Bitterness at the old nickname. 

“A pie?” Eugene glances down at the bowl full of red cherries. He moves to pick one when from seemingly nowhere, a spatula collides with the back of his hand, warding him off.

“Hands off! Last thing Corona needs is you spreading your nasty germs and diseases!” 

“Then I don’t see why they let you near the food,” Eugene snaps back, taking his hand away from the danger zone. He shakes the pain away but Cassandra’s low growl coming from the otherside of the table made sure he knew that pain was the least of his problem. Without warning, Cassandra chases Eugene around, like a dog with its own tale, ready to sink her teeth into his beautiful face.

“I’m gonna kill you!” 

“Get in line! There’s about ten other people in front of you!” Another game of chase before the two stop at separate ends of the table, having the world's most tense staring contest. 

Meanwhile, at the center of the table, Varian watches the two grown adults run around. Which was a strange change of scenery. 

“Cass, my girlfriends best friend, I think you should really consider getting some lessons on manors!” 

“Look who’s talking  _ Flynn Rider! _ ”

There’s a gasp. A long drawn out shocked gasp. It fills the room. 

“ _ You’re F’winn Rider?! _ ” 

“It’s pronounced  _ Flynn _ , actually-“ Varian looked like he was about to faint from the sheer amount of excitement.

Eugene cursed. He knew he probably should’ve picked a better book to read to the kid to sleep. This was bound to happen. He just wish it didn’t. 

“Oh yeah, Eugene didn’t tell you?” Cassandra eggs on.

“Cass-“ 

“No!” For a child, it was like the world exploded before his own eyes. Their favorite book character and person were the same person! It was the best news ever. 

“Well-“ 

“He didn’t?” Cassandra dramatically gasps. “How couldn’t you,  _ Flynn _ ?” Payback was best served hot they say. However this was scorching hot. It’s like boiling water was dropped on his skin during the middle of summer. 

“Well, Uh...um…” Eugene looks between the two, caught in a whirl. The walls were glowing closer as the two looked at him. 

“Oh look over there! Is that the Captain?” Cassandra’s head whips around. Nothing. She turns back to find any empty spot where the ex-thief once was. All that was left was a gust of wind and a trail of cherries. 

  
  
  
  


* * *

  
  
  
  


Rapunzel sits in front of a window, eyes drifting. She can see all of Corona from up here. Including beyond. The hints of green woods left untouched by their kingdom. 

Footsteps echo from behind her, getting closer. She doesn’t turn to look. Given the loud and kinda quick footsteps. 

“You know, I was surprised not to find you in the kitchen with Varian and Cassandra.” 

Rapunzel barely hums a response, her gaze distant. 

“Though  _ CassAndra _ seems to be doing alright.” Eugene’s voice has a hint of resentment. 

“Am I doing the right thing?”

“Well, Cassandra is starting to get used to the kid.“

Rapunzel shakes her head. That wasn’t what she had meant. Her eyes peel away from the open window, falling onto the seams of the seats cushion.

“Am I just causing more damage than fixing it?” 

“Madame Ice will be fine. She can take it.”

“Maybe everyone was right to try to keep me away.” Eugene stutters back, deeply confused. 

“Just to be clear, we are talking about Cassandra. Ya know, the scary looking woman who doesn’t like anything remotely fun? Big fangs? Ice heart?”

“I’m talking about Varian!” Rapunzel shifts in her seat, sighing. 

Eugene suddenly begins to click the pieces together. He nods, understanding now what the princess was trying to say. 

“I’m not his mom! I’m the girl who shoved him away when he needed me the most! I’m the reason his dad isn’t-“ Rapunzel catches her breath, unable to finish what she was going to say. 

“You couldn’t have known what was gonna happen. Not to mention you had the whole kingdom on your back.” Eugene moves closer, taking a seat beside the younger female, watching her with a sorrowful look. “You were under pressure. You didn’t have a choice.” 

“I did have a choice.” Rapunzel shook her head. “I just picked the wrong one.”

“You can’t beat yourself up like this. Especially over something you can’t change.” 

“I deserve it.”

“Don’t say that Blondie. You out of all people don’t deserve that.” Eugene attempts to lay a supporting hand on the Princess shoulder however before he could, she moves away, head spinning towards with furrowed brows. 

“You don’t understand! I’m a bad person!” Rapunzel exclaims. “All I do is hurt people!” 

“No. You’re a healer-“ Eugene cringes at his choice of words “ _-er_ _was_. But you still help people! It’s all you’ve ever done!”

“No! I’m selfish!” Rapunzel stands up, shaking her head. “Everything about me is selfish!” 

“What are you talking about-“

“I don’t want to change him back!” The world goes silent for a moment. Eugene is caught speechless. “I know, I shouldn’t feel that. I should be jumping to get the old Varian back.” 

Rapunzel shakes her head, struggling to speak. Her eyes never felt so heavy and her body so exposed. Like she was some sort of poor lamb stuck in the middle of a pack of lions. 

“But a part of me, deep down, wants things to stay like this.” Rapunzel felt shame rise within her. What kind of person was she?  _ A selfish one _ . She should be helping Varian instead of dragging him along on this journey to make her feel better. 

“Me too.” 

“What?” Rapunzel felt like she was hit in the face with a tennis ball. It smacked her right between the eyes but she didn’t see it flying towards her or anything. She turns around to find a very exhausted Eugene. She hadn’t noticed how tired he looked. Bags under his eyes, sloppy posture.

“I’ll admit it, at first I wasn’t fully onboard with the kid being in the castle with you around but I don’t know. He kinda started to grow on me too.” Eugene laughs, as if his feelings were just a bad joke he made. “Weird right? Ex Thief and convict suddenly is attached to the child version of a attempted murder.” 

Rapunzel couldn’t form words. Her mind was just a jungle of different words running around trying to form some sort of coherent thought.

“Guess that’d make us both selfish.” 

“What? No!” Rapunzel shakes her head. “You’re anything but selfish! All you ever do is put other people first!” 

“So do you.” 

This catches Rapunzel. Her body stills. She didn’t like to reverse the cards on her. It felt weird, and frankly unfair. 

“If I’m not selfish, then you’re most definitely not.” 

Rapunzel is silent. No words could be used in the moment to describe her wide range of emotions. She was all over the place and it would take hours just to comb through the first layer. 

“You know, I heard somebody is making cherry pie downstairs.” 

* * *

Snores carry through the Kingdom.

Dreams fill the kingdom, granting blissful nights. Not a single soul awake for yards. Just the moon shining down on the world below.    
  


In Rapunzel’s room, moonlight seeps in through the crack in the blinds. It’s light hitting the bed across from it. 

On the bed, Rapunzel laid fast asleep, dreaming away. At her side, Varian laid, eyes closed, arms wrapped around Ruddiger. His chest rises and falls in a scronized beat. 

“ _ Come... _ ”

Varian’s eyes peel open, his striking blue eyes cutting through the night sky. Though the room seemed to be ominously silent, the child had been awakened by something. Not a single other soul stirs from their slumber. 

“ _ Come little child… _ ” 

Wind rushes in through the window, throwing the blinds back to briefly fill the room with light. Though none of this seemed to worry the child. Instead, it seems to do the opposite. 

Varian’s arms unwrap from Ruddiger, pushing his body up from the bed. His pupils dilate and his breathing slows down. He glances back, looking at the sleeping princess. 

“ _ Come little child. I’ll take thee away, into a land of enchantment… _ ”

Like a ghost in the night, a figure reveals itself. Hidden by the darkness, but revealed by the flowing blinds moonlight leaking in.

Any thought about the princess was stripped away. Small feet move to the edge of the bed, body slipping down like a mini slide. Varian’s small bare feet move across the floor. His body is moving like a metal towards a magnet. Unable to stop from the path it’s forced upon. The voice was the magnet. It was smooth, alluring. Nothing else mattered while it called. 

Meanwhile, the figure moves away from the window as soon as the boy gets near it. It moves towards the bedroom door. 

Varian stops dead in his tracks. He looks back at the large bed behind him where Rapunzel and Ruddiger were fast asleep on the bed, oblivious. How could they be though? He thought the voice would have awoken the whole town!

A thought crossed his mind, Rapunzel wouldn’t want him going on his own. Last time he did, she lectured him about leaving without telling her. However, that fear of her being mad, suddenly didn’t seem to matter. It was pushed away, shoved behind him without any real reason. All that did matter though was the voice calling him.

It waited for him. 

Varian is pulled away by the siren, following after the dark cloud woman. Leaving behind a peaceful sleeping Princess. The door closes, knocking the poor raccoon awake from their slumber.

“ _ Come little children, the times come to play… _ ” 

Varian isn’t sure where they were heading. His feet trailed forward, following behind this woman. The halls were spooky at night. No light to make him feel okay. Just dead empty halls. Moonlight drips in front the windows, highlighting their path.

Soon they took a familiar path. The doors. A place he wasn’t aloud to go past without Rapunzel or Eugene at his side. Now, this woman wants him to go. 

The doors creak open. With nobody grabbing it and pulling it open, it would have been impossible. 

The woman walks out, her bare feet exiting the castle walls. 

Varian stops at the door, his expression tight. He stares at the door, holding his hands squeezed tightly. 

The boy stares at the line between the doorframe between the outside and inside, biting his lip. He looks up to see the woman far ahead, standing under the large arch in front of the castle. 

There she stood, staring towards whatever pointed outwards. She was waiting.

“ _ Here in my garden of shadows… _ ” 

Varian stares, putting one foot out. Then another. Soon he was walking towards the woman without any realization that he left. When he comes back, he’s standing right behind the woman. 

“ _ Come little child, I’ll show you thee the way. Through all the pain and the sorrow. _ ” 

Varian stares as the figure begins to move. Before he could react, a hand. An offering. The boy stumbles back, mouth dry. He stares at the hand, confused. Yet he couldn’t help but feel compelled to take it. Despite his hesitance and fear.

“I don’t wanna go. Rapunzel would be sad if I go.” 

Varian didn’t know that for sure. Though he knew that he would be sad. He loved Rapunzel with all his heart. She was the person who was always there for him and made him feel safe. 

Then there’s a face. Eyes full of pity. 

“ _ Weep not poor child. For life is this way. _ ” 

Varian feels a great sadness fill him. One that can only be described as the feeling of being torn apart from the inside like a piece of paper. 

“ _ Murdering beauty and passions. _ ”

The hand edges closer, this time more demanding. It was giving him no choice. No option but to give in.

“ _ VARIAN! _ ”

Hands grab the small child from behind, ripping him away from the figure. He’s spun around, forced to meet the terrified green eyes he had thought were left behind to sleep. 

Behind her, Eugene and Cassandra came rushing. Along with four other Royal Guards, two of them holding torches while the others gripped their swords. 

“What on earth are you doing out here?!” Rapunzel exclaims, her voice full of worry. She clutched his arms, squeezing him like he was some sort of plush bear. 

From behind the princess, Ruddiger jumps out, hissing angrily. Though it wasn’t aimed at him, but something behind Varian. 

“Geez kid, you sure know how to give people heart attacks!” Eugene breathes, hand on the kids shoulder, glad to see the boy virtually unharmed.

Varian turns, forcing the grip on him to loosen a bit. Whatever was once there now was gone. No figure. No smoke. No woman. Just the night sky.

Cassandra stares at him, following his gaze outwards. She steps closer, squinting into the night sky. She searched for something, anything. However nothing she could see. She looks back at Varian, who seemed dazed by everything.

“Varian! What on earth were you thinking?!” 

“Yeah, kid, I thought after the first time you’d stop walking off!” Eugene is bent down beside Rapunzel now, partially to calm himself and his nerves. Being woken up by a screaming panicked Rapunzel that Varian was gone wasn’t exactly how he thought his morning would start.

“She told me I had to.” 

“There’s nobody-“ 

“Who told you?” Cassandra asks, cutting off Rapunzel. 

Varian seems to go silent at the question, searching his head for an answer. He seemed distracted. 

Unfortunately for him, Cassandra wasn’t happy with that. So she spun the kid around, despite Eugene and Rapunzel’s protests, glaring him right in the eye.

“Who was it Varian?”

Varian’s eyes slowly rise to meet Cassandra’s, no longer in a dazed state. He looked at her as if it was obvious.

“It was  _ Mama _ .” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yay, plot.
> 
> I love how this chapter went zero to a hundred real quick. At first I was gonna do two separate chapters but then was like, act two should probably be started on a cliff hanger lol. 
> 
> Usually writing these chapters, I listen to Disney music and like randomly Come Little Children came on and I wrote it into the story cause I have no self control.


	7. Forever

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rapunzel and Eugene debate on how to parent a child, meanwhile Cassandra uncovers some things about this Mama person.

Rapunzel walked back and forth in a trance. It felt like an eternity. She hadn’t realized that it had actually been an hour Varian disappeared behind the large door.

Though Rapunzel trusted Cassandra whole heartedly, the thought of him alone without her was nerve wracking. What if he got scared that she wasn’t there with him? So many possibilities rammed into her head that the whole word around her went numb.

“Pace any longer and you’re gonna get motion sickness.” 

“What do you think they’re saying in there?” Rapunzel asks, staring at the gold handles, her fingers itching to rip them open.

“I don’t know but pacing won’t help.”

“Aren’t you worried?” Rapunzel asks. Her voice is frantic. How could her boyfriend be so calm? Part of her envied him for it. 

“Blondie, of course I am. Kids don’t just magically walk off on their own and claim to see people,” Eugene sighed, “but pacing won’t make time go any faster or change the fact that we are stuck waiting.”

“What if this is a side effect? What if he’s going crazy the longer he’s a kid? Or what if the castle is haunted?!”

“Or it could be his imagination making things up.” Eugene counters, trying to balance the crazy talk. “Not everything a kid says is true.” 

“Varian wouldn’t lie!”

“I’m not saying he’s lying, I’m just saying he could have thought to see something but there was nothing actually there!” Rapunzel’s brows furrowed. She eyes the door a bit longer before turning to face her boyfriend. 

“We should be in there.” 

“Cassandra said it was better if we waited outside. Kids tend to tell more truth alone than with your doting on them.”

“I am not doting!” Rapunzel exclaims.

“You kinda are.”

“Well at least I show I care!” Rapunzel’s arms cross as she glares at the older man. 

“Kids don’t need doting on. They need discipline.” Eugene shrugged. Or at least, that’s how he saw it. Hugs and kisses wouldn’t make every problem go away.

Varian seemed to be the opposite. He’d admit that. The kid did seem to be well behaved without being told. For a kid, it’s rare. Most of them are snot nosed brats that’d pick their nose. Therefore he didn’t really need to worry. Kid got it figured out.

“Kids need to feel like they’re being heard!” 

“Kids need discipline.” 

Before Rapunzel could reply, the door opened. Cassandra walks out, face unreadable. Her hands are clamped together with what looked to be like a rolled up piece of paper. The handmaid's face was unreadable. She was always good at masking herself. 

Rapunzel’s face begged for a sign that things were okay. Anything to make this awful feeling in her gut go away. 

Cassandra didn’t deliver. She simply walks out, slowly closing the door being her. 

“Well you’re being ominously quiet and suspicious,” Eugene comments, “More than usual.” 

“Is everything okay?” 

“I spoke to Varian.” Cassandra steps forward, back away from the door. “It seems, these past nights he’s claimed some woman has been calling to him.” 

“A woman?” Rapunzel’s face scrunched you. “Did he say who she was? A name? A description?”

“It’s a bit complicated.” Cassandra’s grip around the scroll of paper seems to tighten. “He says this woman is his Mother. Mama.”

A chill runs down Rapunzel’s spine. The room felt colder, dropping degrees like it was loose change. 

“His mom?” Eugene’s brow raises in suspicion. “I thought he didn’t remember his past?”

“That's where it gets even more complicated,” Cassandra sighs. She lets one hand go from the scroll, freeing it from her tightly wound iron grip. She offers it off to the couple. 

“What is it?”

“It’s a drawing of the person who’s been calling her. I asked him to draw her for me. This is the final result.” Rapunzel’s shaky hand grabs the paper, pulling it towards her. Her heart races in her chest, tongue swelling in her mouth. She feels Eugene hovering over her shoulder, wanting to see what the paper held too.

Rapunzel slowly unraveled the looped paper, peeling it out until she got the full paper in her hand. 

The paper was nearly covered in black markings. It was like somebody had just scribbled circles on the paper and kept doing that. It was hard to understand what it was supposed to be. 

  
  


Rapunzel’s eyes studied the paper. Each marking and splot. 

In the center of the paper, a woman stick figure is drawn. Stringy hair, eyes hauntingly hollow, and smiling. All around her were black scribbles that almost filled the whole paper. Though that wasn’t it. Beside the haunting stick figure, another picture of a short stick figure was placed there with the words ‘Me’ scribbled out in children's writing. Its arm was stuck out. Though what made it interesting was that connected to his hand was the woman’s hand. Mama’s hand. 

“Okay, this is by far the second most disturbing thing I’ve seen,” Eugene mumbles out, face drained of some color. “It’s even worse than the time when Shorty accidentally lost his diaper while playing Cupid.”

“This is all I managed to get out of him. He wouldn’t say anything else,” Cassandra looked awkward standing there in the center of two very worried gazes burning through her. Though she still recalled the chilling words said during the questioning. Words she wished to forget.

“Why not?” Rapunzel asks.

“I don’t know. He got upset and fussy when I’d try to ask anything. He just kept telling me that he can’t.” 

  
  
  
  


* * *

  
  
  


Varian was sat with a plush toy. 

Behave and sit. Don’t do anything. Just do whatever kids do. So naturally, he glares at the stuffed animal. He was determined not to grab it and squeeze it. He had been a bad boy. He didn’t deserve it. 

The button eyes started to feel hot on his skin.

“It isn’t safe. Danger.”

Varian’s arms cross, his lips dipping inside his mouth. He felt his cheeks turn red. 

“Stop it! I’m in trouble because of you!”

The stuffed animal continued to stare at the boy. Though no longer was it sitting in a slump like a lifeless cotton bear. It had seemingly straightened out, now sat like it had a spine to hold it. Though this wasn’t odd, no, not when the young boy sat across from him.

“They’re bad. They lie.”

“No! Cassie, Rapunzel, and Eugene are good! They help!” Varian protests. “I shouldn’t have listened to you!” He knew they all shared their own quirks but they were his family. He found it. 

“Mama will protect you. She won’t let them hurt us.” 

“No, Mama only brings trouble!” Varian crosses his arms, feeling his eyes burn. 

His words must’ve struck a nerve. Cause the next second there’s a loud screech. A terribly loud awful screech. Varian covered his ears, trying to get rid of the awful noise.

The door to the room opens. 

Varian’s gaze spins around, right as the once almost vividly alive bear flops, slumping back to its lifeless form. The boy doesn’t jump. His eyes bat away to meet Cassandra’s. 

Her eyes move past him.

The table he sat at was no longer boring to look out. Ten nasty marks were scratched into the wood, both suspiciously matching a humans hand form. Though the oddness doesn’t stop there, the marks end right where the limp stuffed animal laid. 

Cassandra stares, speechless.

  
  
  
  
  


* * *

  
  
  


Rapunzel took Varian back to her room.

No matter how many questions they asked, or bourse they spent, nothing they needed to know would come from the kid. He kept his mouth shut. 

“I can take him, if you want?” Eugene offered.

“It’s okay, I’ve got it,” Rapunzel told him. Truthfully, she just wanted to be alone with Varian. Selfish, probably. However after all that happened, she needed this. She carried him all the way down. Usually the boy would be happily chirping about something, telling her whatever he had to say inside his big brain. Now, it was a heavy silence that filled the air.

Rapunzel took Varian to the bed, setting him down on the soft mattress. It was pretty early to have a nap but she figured it wouldn’t be okay. 

“You want me to sing?” 

Varian hesitates. Usually the offer of a song was like gold to the kid. He’d never pass. Though today was clearly an exception. His head shakes. No song. 

“Well, let's get you tucked in.” Rapunzel pulls back the blankets, offering the boy to lay down. Once the boy is down, she covers him with the blankets. She makes sure the bed is warm and cozy. Perfect for sleeping.

“Try to get some rest. I’ll be back for you when you’re all rested up. Then we can try painting something!” 

Varian doesn’t offer anything except a slow nod. He was out of it, but sleep deprivation for a child was to have consequences. 

Rapunzel places a gentle kiss on the boy's forehead. 

She pulls away, stroking at the young boy’s hair. She’s about to leave when a small hand catches her. She looks down at Varian, who’s staring up at her now.

“Please don’t leave me alone.” 

“Okay, I won’t leave.” Rapunzel sits back down, but the boy doesn’t let her go. His grip is still strong, holding her close so she wouldn’t go.

“‘Punzel?” 

“What is it?” Rapunzel asks. Her green eyes are full of concern and love. It was almost hard to believe that a scene like this was happening with the same boy who commited treason. 

“I’m sorry for leaving.” 

“It’s okay. Just please, don’t ever do that again. I was so scared something bad happened to you.” Varian studies her. His eyes boring deep into her. 

“I don’t wanna go. I wanna stay here with you.” 

“Hey,” Rapunzel cups the boy's cheek, “you aren’t going anywhere. You’re gonna stay right here with me.” She uses her thumb to gently wipe the stray tear that leaks. 

“Forever?”

Forever? 

“Just go to sleep,” Rapunzel dodges, “I’ll be right here.” 

“I love you.” The words escape Varian’s mouth as a small yawn echoes out. His eyes start to close for the sheer tiredness that clawed at him. 

“I love you too, Varian.” She watched the boy's chest rise and fall with every single breath. “Both of you…” 

Right as that whisper leaves her mouth, the door to her room is cracked open. A Royal Guard. 

“The King wishes to meet with you tonight. Alone.” 

Rapunzel swallows. She doesn’t respond. She just looks down at her feet, feeling her body tingle. She wasn’t shocked. Yet a terrible aching feeling fills her. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This lowkey turned into a horror fic lmao. Anyways before y’all dip, thinking I’ve lost my mind, trust me when I say it’ll all make sense later. It just seems batshit crazy now and like we just entered the Stephen King universe. 
> 
> Anyways, I’m currently working on a few chapters ahead of this one, trying to flesh out where I’m taking this but like it’s so hard to write when that ADD kicks in. Ya’know? Anyways thanks for sticking with me and hope I can finish the story.


	8. Alibi

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Orders from the King are meant to mean everything. However these orders set on a chain of events that ends unexpectedly.

_ “The boy almost escaped free! He was unsupervised!”  _

Fredrick’s voice tumbled throughout the castle. Not a single soul didn’t shutter at the vibration of his voice. It echoes. 

Rapunzel was at the center of it, forced to endure the king's shouts. Her fists were clenched at her side yet her mouth didn't move. For what was she gonna say? The truth? That was more absurd than fiction.

“I gave you a chance but you proved to me that you can’t handle this! The boy is to be removed and placed where he belongs!”

“Father-“

“No, Rapunzel! I don’t want to hear whatever excuse you have! I’ve heard enough!” Like a knife, his words struck her, leaving her wishing it would go away. “The boy showed himself to be a flight risk! We can’t take these warnings for granted!” Fredrick fist bangs on the arm of his chair. “It’s either that or we send him to the madhouse with all the other uncivilized beings!” 

“He’s a child! He didn't know any better!” Rapunzel argument fell onto deaf ears. They were beyond reachable at this point. Closed off from what was happening around him. 

“The order has already been sent out.” 

Rapunzel gasps, horrified at the revilation. She sees now. This meeting wasn’t a talk. There was no discussion. It was to get her away from Varian. She turns around only to find two Royal Guards guarding her exit. Their expression sympathetic. Though sympathy was like a crickets chirp. There but alas not loud enough to hide the lions roar. 

“I don’t expect you to understand this, but I’m doing this for the good of Corona.” Fredricks words seem distant. “For you.” His words aren’t sweet but their infliction was bitter. The King was telling himself that. An excuse to go with his ruling.

Though what wasn’t a King without an alibi or two down his sleeve?

  
  
  
  


* * *

  
  
  


“Tell me about the time you dueled that evil knight,  _ blindfolded! _ ” 

Eugene resisted the urge to rip his own face off. He was trying to put the kid down for a nap so he could also sleep. He went far too long with a power boost. An ex-convict needed their beauty to rest. Perfect face like this doesn’t just happen.

“ _ Kid- _ “

“Oh! Or about how you took on the Earl of Camembert!”

Eugene tried to brush aside how eerily similar this was to his first encounter with the mad genius that was a teenage fourteen year old kid. Who knew it’s only get worse when you tick down the years?

“How many times- _ that wasn’t _ -“ Eugene was about to look Varian straight in the eye to set him straight. Like how any good level head person would do, he was gonna sit this kid down till he grasped that he was NOT the Flynn Rider. 

However once his eyes meet the big curious child orbs, his body is stunned. His mouth refuses to work and his brain suffers on itself. 

Varian was on his knees beside him, looking at him with the most excited and curious expression he’s ever seen. Like a puppy if you swerved a treat in front of it. He wanted to hear everything.

In that moment, he curses Cassandra and her evil witchy self.

“Uh...it was great. R-really hard,” Eugene stutters, tripping over his past self. When has he ever been honest anyways? He’d let the kid keep on believing. After all, who was he to crush a kid's dream?

“Did you ever get scared?” 

“Pfft! Scared?” Eugene scoffed. “Flynn Rider never gets scared!” Varian gasped in awe, stars replacing his eyes. He looked like he’d just been told he won a lifetime guarantee of free gold coins. 

Before anything else could happen, the doors to the room fly open.

“Hey!” Cassandra shouts. 

Guards fill the room faster than water flooding through a dam. This wakes Eugene up from his botched nap, looking up, confused. It seemed like Cassandra shared the same expression. 

“Fellas, now I’m happy you all miss me but this is just-“

“We’re not here for you Rider.” A deep voice cuts through. From the crowd of yellow armor, a familiar face steps forward. 

“Dad?!” Cassandra exclaims, confused beyond anything. “What’s going on?” 

“I’m sorry Cassandra but you have to stand down.” 

The Captain gives a small glance towards his daughter, his expression thin. He couldn’t bear to look her in face, espically for what was going to come.

“Captain?” 

“Stand back Eugene.” His name. Eugene’s real name. Rider had been practically glued onto his back like an unwanted sign by the Captain. Not once did he hear him call him his name. To hear it now, it sent an unwanted chill down his spine. “That’s an order.”

Guards start to grow closer, itching like forward like cats catching their prey. They all wore the same neutral expression. Yet their eyes told a different story as they eyed what they came for. 

Varian must’ve gotten the hint because soon he’s attached himself beside Eugene, who in return held an arm out protectively.

“Don’t make this harder than this has to be.” It was a plea. Though most of the sincerity was overpowered by the firm commanding expression. 

  
  


“You know I can’t do that,” Eugene tells him, biting his lip. “Not this time.”

“Then it’s treason.” 

“ _ Dad- _ “

“You’re dismissed Cassandra.”  _ Leave _ .

Cassandra stares at the back of her father in disbelief. Yet despite this, she finds herself moving back. She had no say. 

“What’s another dirty tag to my name, huh?” Eugene pulls Varian as close as he could. He could feel his thundering heartbeat against his back. He’d rather keep his nasty track record then let some guards mess with the kid. Though notably his throat was tighter and his body began tense up. Old reflexes never die down he guessed.

The Captain seemed to realize this yet he doesn’t seem surprised. Instead a corner of his lip curls up. Pride was it? He didn’t know. The image lasted for only another few seconds before a guilt ridden face took over. With a wave of his hand, the ex-con was apprehended by three guards, grabbed like a stray mutt found digging in the trash. This gave him a strange rush of nostalgia. 

“Let me go!” Eugene struggles against the heavy five guards grip. 

“ _ Sorry Eugene. _ ” Their apologies is laced with some guilt. Truthfully, they had started to get used to the man’s presence. They even began to see him as one of them. For this to happen, it was awful. 

Now on the bed alone, Varian quivers in fear. He had no clue what was going on. 

“ _ Eugene! _ ” Varian cries out. 

“Varian!” Eugene tried to break free once again, run to the kid but he’s thrown against the wall, pinned.

Cassandra watched, mouth agape. She wants to scream, shout even. This wasn’t right. Watching this wasn’t right! She should fight! She should run inside and tell her father no. Yet something stops her. Like a leash pulling her back, she’s choking. She was suppose to be strong yet that strength felt like her enemy at the moment. 

Guards are cornering him in the bed. Nobody truly makes a move until one brave guard plays the martyr. He grabs the boy, picking him up. 

At this point, Varian was petrified. He had no clue what these men wanted. He was scared. 

That’s when everything went wrong. The room chilled and everyone was hit with a wave of shutters that couldn’t be ignored.

Everyone pauses. Eugene, who was pinned up against the wall, struggled to understand what was happening. Being face pinned to a wall meant he was blind to everything around him. 

Cassandra seemed to share the same reaction. Though for her, it was more heart grabbing. Her gaze trickled upwards, feeling an unnatural pull to it. There she sees something that makes her stubbles back. A dark shadow sits on the roof. It’s presence left an eerie chill in her bones. 

It was scarily similar to the black fog from the drawing.

The Captain, who was caught in the middle, looks at Varian, startled by the sudden change in tone. 

Varian seems to stop crying. In fact, he seemed almost relieved as a few tears streamed down his cheeks. His gaze was locked on the corner of the room.

Jolted, The Captain is suddenly threw back through the door, crashing into the hallway. Cassandra cries out for him, terrified of what she had just seen. She falls to his side, checking for a sign of life. 

Breathing. 

Knowing this, she grabs his sword, making a rush for the room.

Then in a blink of an eye, the door closes shut to the room, locking her on the wrong side.

Cassandra runs to it, hands over it, banging. “ _ Eugene! Varian! _ ” She cries out, trying to get through to the inside. “ _ Guys?! _ ”

Meanwhile inside a nightmare was unraveling. The once well lit room has darkened. Drapes closed itself, one by one, shutting out the light. Soon they were left in a dark room, grips of what they were doing loosen. Their sanity brought up for question. 

There’s a moment of pause. A silence. The only thing that could be heard was the heavy breaths echoing. 

The nightstand by the bed is dragged through the room, ramming into the guard who held Varian. The boy is dropped, set free from the prison they trapped him in. Men cried out in terror as they watched their fellow guard go down by something seemingly impossible. 

Varian rolls underneath the bed, covering his ears, squeezing his eyes shut.

Men began to aim for the door, but it wouldn’t budge. They screamed for somebody to open the door, free them. They had enough. The dresser is flung across the room, hitting the pile of men by the door. They wouldn’t be escaping easily. 

Eugene managed to flip himself so he was facing the room instead of the walls. He could see the pure fear stricken expression on the guard who held him. He looked for an order, a sign. However he was granted nothing but the screams of his fellow collages. 

_ “What in the world is doing that?!” _

_ “It’s witchcraft!”  _

_ “It’s the devil coming to punish us!”  _

Eugene pulls the guard down, saving him from a chair that was flung their way. Both men fall to the ground as wood splits above their head. 

Anything with a heavy a mouth of weight was thrown like it was dirt being tossed away. All of it with the intent to kill. Men fell like flies and soon there was one left standing. He was yanking at the door. 

“Get me out of here!” He screamed.

“Get down!” Eugene warns.  _ Play dead _ . Anything but that. His words were drowned out as moments later, the sheets from his bed were suddenly wrapped around the man’s face. It pulls him back. The man stumbles, clawing desperately at the sheets that covered his face. 

If Eugene stood, good chance he’d be facing a world full of pain. Whatever was attacking clearly had a mission. Anything that stood and walked was to be incapaticted. However if he didn’t act, the guard he was watching would suffocate.

It was a quick decision. Eugene picked himself up from the ground, racing towards the man. He quickly grabs the ends of the sheets, forcing them off the man’s head. The man looked paler than the actual sheet, face drained of life. 

“I think I’m gonna faint…”

Then the man did, shock fueling his system as he fell back onto the ground, eyes rolled back. 

Eugene was about to help pull him out of the way when suddenly he’s flung across the room, back slamming against the wall. His body gasps for air as he feels an instance pressure build in his chest. Like somebody dumped a dozen children on top of him and kept adding despite his harsh breathing. 

He looks up, wondering what could cause such excruciating pain. 

That’s when he gets a glimpse of something unreal. 

A face. 

A woman’s face, suken and leathery. Pale skin that was caked with what looked to be mud in the moment. In fact, her whole body looked like she had decided to play in mud. Stringy hair like noodles that was more than in need of a wash. She stood across the room, eyeing eyes with a very dissatisfied glare.

Then, as fast as she appears, she’s gone from his eyes as soon as Cassandra busts through the door. Light spills in and Eugene is dropped. He’s left gasping for air like a fish, clutching his chest desperately. 

“Eugene!” Cassandra runs over. “What happened?!” 

Eugene doesn’t answer. He hacks his lungs, clearing the last bit of pain left. He just shook his head, taking in one last inhale.

“ _ Varian… _ ” 

“Where is he?!” Cassandra asks.

Eugene glances towards the bed. Last he seen, the kid rolled under the bed, shielding himself from the horror. The other person must’ve sensed his drift and immediately walked over to the bed. She glances down. 

Seconds pass.

Seconds turn into minutes. Then Cassandra’s head peaks out, face unreadable. Her gaze transfixed on something. She stands, revealing a book in her hand. No Varian.  _ Where was Varian?  _ She doesn’t say a thing. Simply, she walks over, mouth drawn open in a small circle. She lends the book to him, for him to see what she was seeing.

_ ‘Tales of Flynnigan Rider.’ _

Eugene felt sick.

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So teach, Varian kinda got got. 
> 
> Can we get an F in the chat for Fainting Guy. He was the strongest of them all. Rip his sanity. Along with everyone else I guess lol


	9. Witchcraft?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sometimes the thing that protects us, can be the same thing that hurts us.

Rapunzel was numb. 

The world around her seemed to move in slow motion. She had been kept away from everything, watched carefully by guards. As minutes ticked by, she felt dread sink. Had they taken Varian? Did they hurt him? Was he scared? Then like an afterthought, she let a twinge of hope flick her. Had Eugene and Cassandra caught word soon and left? Did they escape with Varian safe in their arms? 

The idea brought her a sense of comfort. Relief. She hoped for the latter but her mind knew it was slim. 

More time ticks by her and soon she finds herself becoming a sack of self wallowing pity. The soldiers are alerted by the sound of yelling. It draws them first before the royals. 

Her Father seems intrigued as well, standing from his quiet spot. 

Like a moment from a horror novel, a guard bursts through the door. His face plagued with fear, dented armor, blood dripping from his nostril. He looks like a mad man as he falls to the floor, gasping for the air.

Men rode to his aid, but it was too late. Her father stands, demanding to know what the meaning of this was. Why this scene was taking place. 

“It was witchcraft!” The man rambles. “The boy is cursed!” 

Rapunzel stands from her spot, her eyes bulging. Such an accusation was horrid. Though she knew there must be a reason. What would convince a sane man of witchcraft?

“What happened?” Rapunzel asks. Worry seeps through her as the guards deranged eyes meet hers. She can see his fear. It was the only thing keeping him running. 

“Rapunzel,” Her father warns. 

“He took out all of our men! He tried to kill us all!”

“Varian would never do such a thing! He’s just a boy!” Rapunzel couldn’t stop herself. Her words came out faster than her brain can process. 

“That is no boy!” The guard shakes his head. “That is a demon!” 

The King rushes to the guards, wanting to hear from them what was happening. Meanwhile the princess watches two men drag away the poor wounded soldier. She doesn’t waste another second before booking it out of the room. She needs to see. 

Rapunzel's feet carried her through the halls. Everything around her ceases to matter as everything goes quiet. All she can hear is her rushed breaths and beating heart. 

The closer she got, the more she could see. Men being carried away, wounded and bandaged. Dark halls crowded with Guards and maids. Their shouts seem to just fly past her head. 

To her dismay, they all surrounded one certain room. Her room. 

Rapunzel doesn’t get any time to process this since the next thing she sees is Cassandra. She’s got her arm wrapped around a very out of it Eugene. She seemed to be telling him something, maybe comforting him. However his loud voice cut her off.

“Mm’h fine! We need to focus on finding the kid!” 

“Eugene, you’ve got a bump the size of a tangerine, all you’ll be finding is a cot in the infirmary-“

“Eugene!” Rapunzel calls out, begging him to look her way. She prayed to see his sly grin telling her that everything was fine. That all of this was some dream. 

“Rapunzel-“ Before the man could say anything, the Princess is rushing towards him. She looks inbetween the two, begging for information. 

“What happened?!”

“It took him,” Eugene pants out, shaking his head, livid as the memory replays in his head. “I saw it.” 

“Varian?” Rapunzel’s gaze is ripped away. She turns, looking at the door to her room. Her mess is casted astray like a tornado ran through it. Dressers and her nightshelf laid on the ground, broken and misplaced. She sees several wounded men on the floor but no Varian. 

“Where is he?!” Rapunzel turns to her friends desperately looking for an answer. “Cass? Eugene?”

“I’m sorry Rapunzel...I couldn’t-“ 

Rapunzel didn’t hear the rest. Her whole world came crashing down, shattering like a glass vase. Pieces around her with no glue to help put her back together.

Varian was gone.

_ “I don’t wanna go. I wanna stay here with you.” _

“ _ You aren’t going anywhere. You’re gonna stay right here with me. _ ”

_ “Forever?” _

Smoke fills the air as everything burns around her. She can barely see through the thick dark smog. All she can do is repeat Varian’s last conversation with her. His terrified eyes, puffed out bottom lip begging them to stay together. 

She didn’t realize she was on the floor until her hands wrapped around her. Cassandra let Eugene down on the ground, letting him sit beside her and hold her. Though it didn’t stop the world from moving around them, for a moment it was silent. No voices, no reality, nothing.

  
  
  


* * *

  
  
  


**_Crunch!_ **

Eyes fly open, body tense. Somewhere hidden, Varian jumps awake. His whole body twitches, eyes winding open as light floods his once dark world. His body was laid on the ground of some sort of cave, left to sleep. 

**_Crunch!_ **

A deer jumps out from the bushes, causing another crunch to catch his attention. It treds lightly, unaware of the very alive human boy watching them. 

It seemed to check the area, making sure the scene was safe before turning around. From the bushes, a fawn reveals itself, scurrying to by by its mother. 

Varian doesn’t realize he was staring until both mother and child are gone, trotting away. Once out of sight, he sits up, raising his head. Left with a throbbing headache and achy body, he tries to get a grip. 

“Rapunzel?” Varian calls out instinctively as he rubbed the sleepiness from his eyes. “ _ ‘Ugene? _ ” 

Memories are slow to return, hitting him as he realized quickly that the cave was not home. He remembered everything from the loud shouting to being grabbed to darkness. Everything till the point he hit his head on the floor. Then it becomes a blurry picture of black. 

Varian stands, looking around the small cave he had been stashed under. It was the size of Rapunzel’s room and bathroom combined. Not something somebody would explore in their free time. He imagined a pack of wolves sleeping here after a rough night out.

A cold breeze hits him. Hairs on the back of his neck rise simoustanly. Like a shockwave, pricking his drone behind. The boy turns around, slowly to be cautious. 

From the dark, something roles out. A gift. A single red cherry. 

As if on cue, his stomach rumbles, reminding him he hadn’t hated at all. He was starving. The cherry didn’t seem to be enough but the boy did pick it up. He stares into the eyes of the darkness, expressionless.

Suddenly another cherry rolls out. Another gift. Without hesitation this time, Varian was grabbing it and nibbling on the sweet fruit. As he did this though, the eyes staring at him bore deeper, burning through his small slender body. 

Varian found himself holding two pits, staring at them longingly. He wished for more delicious sweet fruit but now he was starting to feel himself grow weary. 

He longed for Rapunzel. To be in her arms and hear her sing. She had the best voice ever. Plus she was always nice to him.

**_Tap._ **

Another cherry taps his foot, calling his attention. Varian looks at the darkness, eyes meeting. His bottom lip starts to tremble. 

_ Don’t cry, _ he tells himself.

“Why are we here?” Varian asks, unable to stop his voice from trembling. 

“ _ Safe. _ ”

“Where’s Eugene and Rapunzel?” Last the kid saw, he was pinned to the wall, held down. He was safe but he wasn’t sure what quite happened after all that. He just remembered the faint dull shouting. 

“ _ Dead _ .”

“Why?” Varian asks, unable to hold back tears. “Why’d you hurt them?” Tears drip from his face, splashing on the rough ground. Sadness and grief all around him. He knew what was death. Somehow he understood. What he couldn’t though was the  _ why _ .

“ _ Dangerous. _ ”

“No! They were good!” 

“ _ Mama is your family. We will be happy and safe together. _ ” Varian feels a lump form in his throat. He can only shed another tear as he glared into the abyss with painful sorrow. He longed for Eugene and Rapunzel now. Missing their voices and faces. They brought him a sense of safety which now seemed to have dissipated. 

Now he was nothing but a quivering calf in a huge world, abandoned. 

“You hurt people,” Varian shakes his head, his voice cracking, “You’re bad.” 

The child’s words are chilling. 

What once was a calm atmosphere turned tense. From the shadows, dozens of cherries rolled out, all of them spilling in whatever direction they want. 

**_Bam!_ **

A hand thrusts out from the dark. It’s appearance is thin and frail, skin withered and white. It makes the boy back up a bit as he knew what was coming. 

Pulling itself forward, the shadows begin to reveal a body. A woman. Hair stringy around her face, body sunken and decayed. Life drained from her eyes. Dressed in a black nightgown that flowed freely. She did a spider crawl,looming over the child. Her face dangerously close. Anybody else might have screamed or flinched but Varian didn’t. He kept as calm as one could, even looking her in the eyes. 

She croaks as her eyes meet the boy’s. They keep like this for nearly a minute, neither blinking. 

Mama raises her hand, lifting too close to his face. Her palm presses gently on the alive boy’s cheek. He shudders at the cold lifeless hand. 

“ _ Mama protects. Mama doesn’t hurt.” _

Varian tries to pull his face free but fails under the iron like grip. For such a fragile looking thing, it had the strength of ten dozen men. It forced him to look it straight in the eyes. 

“ _ Don’t you remember what  _ **_she_ ** _ will do if she catches you? _ ” 

This warning sets any fight within him back. His body goes ridgid. All that could be seen is his small breath cloud escaping his lips, flushing away. His heart thudded, slamming into his ribcage. 

“ **_She_ ** _ won’t wait any longer. _ ” 

Varian couldn’t help but let out a low whimper. The thought of leaving was just adding to his damaged baggage of emotions. So much happened so close together that his body couldn’t take it anymore. All he wanted to do was fall to the ground and bawl. Cry until the tear drain sucks itself dry. 

“ ** _She_** _will kill you.”_

Chills. This statement made everything clear. Varian would not be leaving free without a fight. However the threat of death kept him tied in place. He knew Mama was right. She always seemed to be.

“ _ A storm is brewing. We must leave before it hits.” _

Varian is freed. 

His clenched jaw aches as he rubs where Mama once grabbed him. It was nothing like Rapunzel’s warm hand that gently would touch his face. It left a sad pit in his stomach. 

Rapunzel. He wished for her hold, her sweet angelic voice cooing him to bed. Her loving hold. She was the complete opposite of Mama. Loving, caring, warm, kind—his mind wanders. Tears drip to the ground, making its own small puddle at his feet. 

The lion returns to its den of shadows, leaving the small boy alone. His knees give out, dropping him. He doesn’t care for the fruit anymore or the cold wind. 

All he can do is cry. 

  
  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oooh, Mama shows itself. Spoopy.
> 
> Lmao. This story is really going zero to one hundred real quick. Author (myself) said fuck a normal family story, we going to write crazy shit. 
> 
> Also Raps and Eugene probably gonna need therapy-


	10. Butterfly

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A friend makes themselves know, bringing answers.

Rapunzel stares at her bed.

She studies its frame and covering, noting the messy sheets. It gave her a good picture of what went down. The mess in her, it painted a story. 

The civil war that took place was not by any means scarless. Blood puddles stain the carpets and walls, marking where each soldier got their unlucky due. Her furniture lined up with each spot, knocked over and discarded like nothing. 

Yet that wasn’t the most haunting thing there.

The empty under of her bed laid unoccupied. She remembered Eugene’s recollection of events of how he hid underneath and never came back. The spot where he went missing without a sight. No explanation, no clues, nothing.

Rapunzel was stumped, caught in a dead end inside a ditch. Her boyfriend was whisked away from her after he passed out beside her on the floor, Cassandra followed her father, who had yet to awaken from his slumber. Now she sat alone, unsure of what to do. 

Something catches the grief stricken princess’s eyes. A flutter of color in the air. All her senses focus on that, watching the blob of color slowly descend onto the ground underneath her bed. 

A butterfly she makes out. Wings painted black with dashes of blue. It stuck out like a beacon, demanding her eyes. She wondered for a moment if it was a sign. A message to remind her of her failure to protect the boy who needed her. 

Time ticks, flying in a blink of an eye. She has a staring contest with the winged creature before tearing her eyes away. 

“ _Please don’t leave me alone._ ”

Rapunzel stands, ignoring her body’s weakened strength. Despite her legs trembling, she moves toward the bed. Her body is on autopilot, no longer under her control.

Her knees fall, body bending down. She peeks her head down, trying to find the butterfly. She spots it after a second of searching, noting its existence right above her. 

Rapunzel stares at it, unmoving. It’s presence was calling her. She wanted nothing more but to see it, be close by and watch it. It left her with an itch. 

Her hand starts to loom closer. It inches closer with a predator glare, teeth snarling. Her hand wanted to grab that winged creature, hold it.

Her fingers drew closer. 

The door to her room opens, startling the princess from her trance. Her body goes ridged, peeking up like a cat. 

It was a guard.

“Your highness, Eugene is out of intensive care. He wishes to speak to you.”

Rapunzel takes a moment to catch herself. Inhaling a deep breath. She pulls herself away from the scene, drawing her fingers back. She stands up, eyes drawing up. 

Pity is scrawled over the guards face as he watches her rise from the ground, having seen better days.

Rapunzel says nothing, leaving past the guard. For nothing she said could make her feel any better.

  
  


* * *

  
  
  


Coma.

That was what the medical nurse said. The Captain was in a coma. Deep asleep, blissfully unaware of Cassandra’s presence. She stared down at his slumbering figure, briefly feeling worry overtake her. Her father was a strong man, and she saw him pull through a lot worse. Yet that didn’t mean she didn’t worry for him. 

Her hand gently glides over his hand, wishing him the best. The gesture was short, because she had other worries. Whatever did this was still out there. Though she didn’t see it, she knew something dangerous was at play. Seemingly nothing but strong winds pushed her father and hurt his men. Now whatever it was, she was certain it was at play in the disappearance of Varian. 

“ _You’re dismissed Cassandra_.”

“Why’d you try to send me away?” Cassandra asks. She didn’t expect a response, but secretly hoped she’d get her answer. However she got nothing but disappointing silence. “Why couldn’t you trust me for once?”

Again nothing. Just the echoes of her father's words. _‘Your lady in waiting duties come first’_ echoes in her head. However instead of being filled with responsibility and strength, she gets an empty ache. One that only grew deeper as time went on. It seems it had been there for a while, growing and festering. 

The whole situation left her with a sting. An awful, nasty sting. 

As her hand draws back, a butterfly lands on her hand. It catches her off guard, causing her hand to tense up. She stares down at the creature, disgusted for a moment but after a few seconds, that disgust turns into curiosity. 

Cassandra raises her other hand, bringing it over to the creature. A sign of trust. The butterfly shifts toward her hand, almost starring it down. It edged her on, bringing her closer. 

Once her open palm touched it, everything turned dark. The once well lit intensive room in the medical wing was now replaced with a dark world. 

Trees and vines surround the place with strange statues left broken. Nothing but the faint blue light from the world above. 

“ _Hello there._ ”

Cassandra looks around, searching for the voice. She sees nothing. Not a single thing. She steps back, reaching for her sword at her side, only to find air. Her sword was gone. She grits her teeth, continuing to back away defensively. However she’s stopped when her back hits something. She spins around to find a sculpture. A large looming one. A knight riding a horse, sword pointed outwards. 

“Show yourself!”

“ _Tut, tut, patience._ ” The voice sounded young, almost childlike if it wasn’t for the cold unforgiving nature. “ _All will be revealed in due time.”_

Cassandra shimmies around the statue, looking out for a face. Briefly she catches the view of a face, hidden behind a smashed wall, smiling out at her. 

“ _You seem to have lost something of yours._ ” 

This catches Cassandra’s attention, pulling her back. _Varian_. It didn’t take a genius to figure it out. However she wasn’t a fool either. 

“How do you know about Varian?” She questions. Her tone was cold and cut. 

“ _I know everything, Cassandra._ ”

“Who are you?” Cassandra presses on, brows knitted. She didn’t like this one bit. 

“ _A friend, or I’d like to be._ ” 

“Hate to disappoint but I don’t do ‘ _friends’_.” Sarcasm with a hint of truth. Eugene seemed to be rubbing off on her. “Especially not with people who I can’t see.”

This triggers a response. Again, Cassandra catches a glimpse at the mysterious figure. This time she was hidden behind a statue looking very annoyed. Then it was gone.

“ _You won’t find him without my help. What took him somewhere you’ll never find.”_

“If you’re all knowing, you’ll know I don’t deal with the devil.” 

“ _Ouch, Cassandra, is that how you treat Dear best friend Rapunzel?_ ”

Cassandra feels her body clench at the name, tension rising though her. She hit a nerve. By the looks of it, a very big one.

“ _Well, if you refuse, I’ll go. Though do send her my regards. Can’t imagine what it feels like to lose a child! Not to mention her friend had the chance to save him but refused! I’m sure she’ll forgive you. She seems like the forgiving type.”_

“Wait!” Cassandra calls out. The room freezes, stopping as the lady in waiting tries to think. 

“ _Yes?”_

“You said _‘what’_ took him. Not _‘who’_.” Cassandra steps forward, releasing her back from the statue as she speaks out to the void.

“ _Well yes. What has the boy isn’t quite a ‘who’.”_

“Like a ghost?” Cassandra draws out, sarcasm dripping.

“ _No. A ghost implies that what has him had to have been alive at some point.”_

“You aren’t being very clear,” Cassandra snaps, annoyed at the vague answers. She already didn’t trust this, and this was adding fuel to the fire.

“ _A child's mind is a complex thing. So intricate with so much information plowing inside it._ ” The voice tells her, voice seemingly distant. “ _Not to mention, the child was once a teenage boy._ ” 

“What are you getting at?”

“ _What does a child crave most?_ ” 

“I don’t know, toys? What does it matter?” Cassandra looks around, glaring. She really didn’t like this puzzle placed in front of her. 

“ _Oh Cassandra, you know the answer. For it's the same thing you wished for as a child._ ”

“A mother,” Cassandra mumbles. Realizing what she said, she stumbles back. Had she said that aloud? Years without now knowing who her biological mother would put a child in quite a tight mind spot, wishing for that close bond most other kids had. Yet she didn’t quite see how this fit in with their current situation.

“ _That’s right!_ ” Enthusiasm leaked through her voice, peaking out. It sounded almost forced. Like a show type announcer getting the audience ready for the big reveal.

“Okay, but how does this key into Varian suddenly being a child and whatever freaky monster thing that has him!” 

“ _Well, it seems that in the mix of his transformation from child to infant, the boy had managed to create his own protector to cope. A sort of… mother to shield him from the world._ ” 

“So you’re saying, when Varian turned into a kid, this creature thing was created?”

“ _Yes! Think of it like an imaginary friend of sorts._ ”

“Imaginary friends don’t throw cabinets and fling people across the room,” Cassandra doubts. She couldn’t believe it fully. Not without some hesitation first. She’d be a fool for not asking first.

“ _Well, fear in a child can be quite strong. Especially one like him_.”

“How do you know this?” This seemed too easy. Something was missing from the puzzle despite the complete photo being placed in front of her. It was all just too perfect.

“ _So many questions, so little time._ ” The voice strings her along, holding a bone up hoping she’d chase it. “ _Speaking of, you're running out.”_

_“By midnight, your scruffy friend and father will die. Cursed to death by the same thing that took the boy.”_

“What?!” Cassandra exclaims. “You’re telling me this now?”

“ _You wouldn’t have listened then. Now you are. Without getting rid of the stupid creature, they will die.”_

“How am I supposed to kill it?!” Cassandra asks. Suddenly everything in her body tese and at edge as this very real scenario unfolds.

“ _You can’t kill fear. It’s undying. However you can make it weaker._ ”

“How?”

“ _That’s for you to figure you, I’m afraid._ ” 

“Then, will he turn back?” Cassandra asks. The question sets a high tension in the room. She demanded to know exactly what she was getting into. Yet the other line seemed to be very uncooperative.

“ _No. He’ll remain a boy as long as the one who changed him is still around._ ”

“How can I trust what you say?” Cassandra finally asks. Despite her seemingly distrust, part of her believes. Or maybe _wanted_ to believe.

“ _Friends never lie.”_

The world around her begins to fade, leaving her stuck in the center. Her calls echoing throughout the abyss before soon being consumed by it.

  
  
  
  


* * *

  
  
  
  


Cassandra snaps awake.

She’s sat on a chair, in a library. _Wasn’t she just at the infirmary?_ Instead of seeing her father’s hand in her hand, she sees a map. Her finger pointed out, stuck on a spot. 

_‘The Big Forest’_

Her finger is pressed on a spot in the forest, covered with trees. That’s where they were. That’s where _Varian_ was. She feels her breath hitch as she remembers everything else. The voice, the strangle place, the butterfly-

As if on cue, a very familiar black winged creature sat on the end of the table and suddenly took off, flapping its wings and taking off. 

Cassandra gulps.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Stranger Danger.
> 
> Don’t talk to invisible talking voices. 
> 
> *Fake Shock* I wonder who this totally mysterious voice talking to Cassandra could be and if we can trust it.


	11. Lost

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rapunzel is ready to go to hell and back to get Varian back.

Rapunzel sat by Eugene’s bed. 

She tried to be as un weird as one can be, but her eyes kept drawing to the sight of the bandages on his back. He was turned away for the moment, slipping on his shirt when the princess caught a glimpse of something truly horrific. A nasty black bruise that seemed terribly irritated. She didn’t want to cause a scene but she noted it looked pretty bad.

Eugene turns back, exhaling loudly. 

“They said you should be taking it easy. Nothing strenuous-“

“There’s more important things-“

“Eugene-“

“-We have to find the thing that took-“

“ _ Eu- _ “

“-And get Varian back.” The mention of the missing boy turned the air sour. A sore spot the boy was. Everyone can sense it. Even the nurse who watched from the sidelines. She sensed the urgency and made an exit through the door, sensing shift.

“You’re hurt. You don’t know what effects running around can have on your body.”

“I told you, I’m fine-” Eugene stands, turning to face his significant other with a face that said  _ ‘I told you so’.  _

“The doctor-“

“Trust me, I’ve survived through worse.” Eugene states. “I’m not gonna let some man with a fancy monocle tell me what I can and can’t do.” 

“He only has your best interest-“

“Why are you suddenly so insist I stay?” Eugene interrupts, curiosity peaking. 

“Cause you’re hurt!”

“No, the Rapunzel I know would be jumping ahead to go out and find Varian.” 

“Eu-“

“What's got you so ramped up that suddenly you don’t care-“

“I do care!” Rapunzel stands, fists to her side. In that moment, tears start to form in her eyes, glistening. “I’m sorry that trying to not lose anymore friends counts as not caring!”

Eugene felt like the biggest douche bag. Seeing the woman he loved sound so heartbroken and defeated. All because he was afraid. Way to go Fizherbert. Ruining yet another relationship. 

“I’m sorry...I shouldn’t have…” 

“I’m sorry too,” Rapunzel bizarrely responds, waving her arms out. “I don’t know what to do anymore. My Father is unreachable, My Mother is out of the castle on some Queen duties, People are hurt, and Varian is gone! J-Just gone with no idea where he’s gone!” 

“We’ll find him-“

“I failed him again. I was suppose to protect him-“

“You couldn’t have know what would of happened-“

“I should’ve been there! Done something instead of standing by!” Rapunzel never felt such self pity and angry in a moment. This emotion was so deep, cutting through her. It felt like nothing she had before. More personal. More harder to deal with. Grief maybe? She didn’t know.

“Thinking like that won’t take you anywhere but a real dark path,” Eugene tells her, his face knowing. He knew what it was like to crush yourself and hate. It was a path that carried him deep down, suffocating him his whole life.

“My father won’t let me leave this castle. He’s gonna send a manhunt to find Varian.” Rapunzel shifts. She couldn’t bear to think of what would happen if he did. What if he got his hands on Varian. After everything that happened, he wouldn’t stand for it.

“Guess we gotta find him first.”

  
  
  
  


* * *

  
  
  
  


Cassandra was rushing to find her friends when she collided into a very alive Eugene. Their bodies clash, falling back with thuds.

“Cassandra?!” Rapunzel exclaims, surprised to see her.

Cassandra was about to respond when she noted their outfits. Rapunzel wore her famous cloak, satchel to her side. It seemed packed. Meanwhile Eugene wore a similar satchel, also packed. He also notably had a trusty frying pan at his side. 

“Do you ever watch where you’re going  _ CassAnda _ .”

“Watch it wrinkles, or else you’ll be needing to be carted back into the infirmary.” 

Cassandra stands, wiping herself clean. She tries to not seem suspicious as she took in their appearance.

“Cass, I know this looks-“

“You’re gonna go find Varian.” There was no getting around this. She’d rather skip small talk completely and get to the point. She had enough of people trying to dance their words around her. 

“I have to. He can be hurt-“

“I’m going with.”

“What? Why?” Eugene asks, sounding a bit defensive. 

“Cause, I know where Varian is.” Cassandra tells him. “And I know what’s got him.” 

“What-“

“Let’s go!” Cassandra doesn’t explain further, simply pulling the couple away, down the hall. For time wasn’t something she could spare.

  
  
  


* * *

  
  


“ _ He’s here _ .” 

Cassandra gestured to prominute ‘X’ written in ink at the spot where she was told. Beside it, a dimly lit lantern. Behind her, both Rapunzel and Eugene share a look.

“How do you know?”

“Uh, I remember Varian mentioning it in our talk,” Cassandra lies quickly. Though the lie wasn’t out of distrust, more out of self preservation. She already sounded mad, no reason to add more insanity to her claim.

“I thought you said he didn’t tell you anything?” Eugene questions, prying further. 

“I didn’t think it was important.” The lie flies off her tongue smoothly, hardly missing a beat. She had always been good at the deed. Though that didn’t mean she didn’t feel any sort of regrets doing it. It was hard to lie to her friends but she knew it was necessary. 

“Is there anything else?” Rapunzel asks, curious for more information. 

“The thing that has him is dangerous. Nothing like anything we’ve faced. I don’t know how to face it.” 

“We’ll find a way,” Rapunzel states, determination edging in her voice. Brows furrowed, fist clenched, the Princess was ready to fight. 

“There’s something else…” Cassandra adds carefully, treading on light ice. She was hesitant to tell the couple the other part of the story. The one where her father and Eugene were marked to death by this creature. For they seemed to be determined to be ready to go, would this just add to the fuel?

“What is it?” Rapunzel asks.

“It’s...just that with my father down and the lack of guards on their feet means nobody is guarding the secret tunnels underneath the castle. We can take those to get outside.”

“This sure is pretty specific information that you’re spewing that conveniently remembered.” Eugene knew something was up. He was no idiot. Or at least not a complete one. He could sense half truths like a bloodhound sniffing for their owner's scent. 

“Tragic events will do that to a person.” Her voice is bland, cutting dry. 

“Come on. It won’t be soon till my father sends someone to look for me. We have to go,” Rapunzel cuts through, looking worried at the amount of time they were spending inside the castle. She wanted out.

“Rapunzel is right. We should go now.”

Eugene takes a moment, staring at her, before nodding along. He knew that being a jerk wouldn’t accomplish anything. 

“Alright, lets go!”

  
  
  


* * *

  
  
  


Cassandra held a torch. 

  
  


She stared at the opening of the entrance, noting its old decayed door. It’s clear it hadn’t seen a lot of action in the passing years though it was very usable to this day. Cobwebs with cracks in the walls made the handmadien weary.

Getting here was a walk in the park, but quite frankly, that wasn’t what worried her. It was the ticking time bombs in the castle. Their date gonna reach the sour end soon if they don’t find this creature and rid the problem. 

“ _ Gross _ ,” Eugene gags. “it smells worse than Maximus after eating moldy hay.” 

“Faster we’re in, the faster we’re out,” Rapunzel tells him, hoping it would work to motivate them. Though she herself couldn’t help but gag a tiny bit. 

Rapunzel was the first in. After, Cassandra. Lastly, Eugene. They made sure to close the exit to ensure nobody was following their steps when they noticed the group gone. 

Then it was just a matter of walking through the dimly lit underground tunnel. With the heat making it hard to breath at points. One would think a place without the sun would be cool.

Cassandra maintained her posture though, leading the group. For she was the one they had counted on. She couldn’t help but feel a strong burden being placed on her shoulders. Though she couldn’t shake the feeling of something lurking deep in the shadows, watching them.

  
  
  


* * *

  
  
  


The world was a cold place.

Figuratively and literally. Varian was shivering, hidden behind a rock inside the cave. This was a sudden change from the castle beds. Once that he wasn’t quite pleased. He missed the warm blankets and sheets that would wrap around him like a shield from the cold. 

Beside him, in the shadows, he can hear pacing. Though unlike any normal beings pacing, this sounded as if something was crawling on all fours in a craze. 

Varian sucks in a deep breath, eyes shifting away from the darkness. He didn’t want to focus on that. He tried to pull his body closer into itself but found it had already reached its limit. He couldn’t physically pull his limbs any closer. 

“ _ She’s coming. She’s coming _ .”

Varian glances back at the darkness, mouth drawn shut. He can only shiver from the toe biting frost as he listens to the rambles of Mama. 

  
  
  
  


* * *

  
  
  
  


“Are you okay Eugene?”

The group stopped mid walk. They were near their exit, taking only one more turn. However the only male in the group had started to lag behind. He made a scratching gesture to his chest, grabbing at the fabric over his chest. 

“I’m fine, but I think there might be a cat inside these halls,” Eugene sniffs. 

“Do you need a minute-“

“No. Let’s just get out of here.” Eugene shakes his head. This place had him wishing he could rip his own skin off.

“Come on.” Cassandra leads them out another turn. 

It’s another ten minute walk before they reach the exit point. It’s a manhole on the ceiling, meant to make it secure and hidden when royals would escape. Something nobody would expect. 

“Thank god, I can't take Cassandra’s smell anymore!” 

Cassandra bit her tongue.  _ Hard _ . She decided it would be better to be the first one up instead, climbing up the railings before reaching the top. Running out, she’s greeted with a fresh wave of air. She inhaled it like it was bags of coins. All around her grass. Not even five feet in front of her, the Big Forest. 

After her, she helped Rapunzel up then Eugene. She resisted the urge to drop him back into the tunnels and close the hole. As soon as all of them are up, she seals the manhole up. 

“They’re deep in the forest. We gotta go East. That’ll take us to the lions den.” 

“Very specific.”

“The Big Forest is huge. We can’t afford to get lost. Slightest wrong move can take us anywhere,” Cassandra again ignores, pointing out where they need to go. She holds up the map, showcasing the proof. 

“I trust you. Lead the way,” Rapunzel tells her, nodding her head in determination. 

  
  
  
  


* * *

  
  
  


The woods are loud.

Birds chirp, animals nearby call out, shrubs swaying-it was never quiet. As the group moves deeper in, light becomes scare. The ground shadowed by the trees looming over it. The sun barley traced onto the ground, giving a look at the end of trees.

Cassandra was determined to make it through this without fail. She knew exactly what she was doing when she refused to participate in conversation. She couldn’t afford distractions that could cost them their place.

The sun starts to set, falling to its place of rest. It put a rush on everything and told Cassandra that they were running out of time. Soon the woods would’ve dark, making it even harder to navigate. She subconsciously glances back at Eugene, who looked paler than usual. His body produces enough sweat to fill an entire bathhouse.

“Cass, I know you’re focused right now but how much longer?” Rapunzel asks. She sounded a bit impatient as she looked around at the trees. 

“I told you, it’d take a while. Their spot is deep in the woods. A chance of stumbling on it is lesser than Eugene’s IQ.” The joke fell flat. She noted Rapunzel’s worried expression as she looked back at her boyfriend, who for the most part was lagging behind. 

“Raps,” Cassandra sighs, stopping. “Maybe it would be best if you and Eugene stay behind. I’ll continue to find Varian-“

“Cass, you have no idea what you’re up against! You said it yourself! You can’t go alone.”

“Blondie is right. I’ve seen what that  _ thing  _ can do. It can be invisible and throw things around without touching it.” Eugene winced at the recollection. The poor memory burned into his mind. 

“It won’t do us any good if we all go in and die.” 

“We won’t die. I swear of it.” Rapunzel gave her a reassuring nod, telling her to trust her optimism. It was clear that they were all going into this blind together. Nothing the warrior could say would change that.

Cassandra could only move forward.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fun fact: Next chapter is the last one. Yikes. I’m so shocked that I actually managed to finish a fanfic. 
> 
> Anyways, thanks for reading!!!
> 
> (P.s. Eugene gets a free nice-card from Cass since he’s prob gonna die at midnight-)


	12. Who You Are

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The final showdown.

Night came fast.

The moonlight traced the world below. Outlining the finer things, and creating pitch black shadows to cover. 

Varian laid on a spot on the ground, ignoring the uncleanliness of the situation. His teeth chattered but that was the least of his concerns. The outside world looked scarier in the dark. The woods no longer looked interesting and fun to play in. They looked sinister. Like any creature could come out and drag him into the woods. Anything could be out there, looking to gobble him up like a breakfast platter.

**_Who!_ **

Varian jumps to life, startled by the sound. Only an Owl in the distance, but to him it was a monster calling to him. 

The boy crawls back, further into the darkness. 

**_Bang!_ **

The distant roaring drew the boy up, making him jump. The sky had just given the poor folks living below a warning. It’s thunder rolling though the sky. 

If he wasn’t about to freeze his socks off, he would’ve thought the world had it out for him. 

For a moment, Varian is lost to the sudden trickling droplets. Dozens of them flying down from the ground, disappearing into the ground. 

He’s never seen such a phenomenon. It’s like the sky was crying above them. Mourning the loss of light. Yet somehow he knew exactly what it was. 

_Rain_. 

Varian doesn’t know what it is but he finds himself intrigued by it. Call it a feeling or curiousity. Whatever it is, it draws him closer. 

He glances back at the shadows, noting that Mama had left. Without a word, she took off, ordering him to stay. Would she be mad that he wasn’t sitting put? Was this a good idea?

Being alone was scary. Especially in a cave with no light. The only thing he knows is solid rock under his fingertips. 

Varian considers staying. Follow orders like a good boy. He even goes as far as trying to turn his back from the outside. He didn’t want Mama to get mad at him. 

**_Flap!_ **

Varian is pulled out of his head, spinning at the sound. To his dismay, a small winged creature sits on right behind it. A butterfly.

“Are you hiding too?” Varian asks, sniffling. 

The creature stares at him, keeping a heavy gaze. It only drew the boy's attention closer. 

“Here…” Varian picks you a stray willowed leaf, handing it over to the butterfly as a gift. “You can stay with me…” 

Varian places the leaf on the side, expecting the creature. 

“There! Now we can be friends!” Varian says with a bit too much joy. Having a companion through this made him light up with joy. Somebody to keep him company through the storm in the same position was enough to give him hope for today. However it quickly started to die down when his thoughts trail off. He had a companion once.

_ Ruggider _ . 

The name brings back a wave of sadness. Was he okay? Did Mama hurt him too? Was he still his friend after what Mama did? The thought of losing the precious raccoon hurt. Hurt more than any scrape or bump. This went deeper. Though truthfully, he didn’t really know why he felt this way. Surely only a few weeks passed while knowing him but it felt like their roots went deeper. 

“Huh?” The butterfly ignores the leaf, turning towards the cave exit.

“Mama said to stay here. Danger is out there.” Varian didn’t want to disobey her. After all, she had done nothing but protect him for the beginning. 

Varian didn’t remember much. It was all moments in time. In the beginning, he just remembers sounds. Horrible screeching. A voice saying something. Then he remembers waking up in the forest. He was on the ground, hidden in this exact cave. He was cold. Just like he was now. Except he wasn’t alone. 

  
  
  


* * *

  
  
  


_ Varian was sore. _

His head hurt. Like somebody banged on his skull with a big massive hammer. He whimpers, hating the horrible state his body was in. He was cold, in pain, and confused.

**_Croak_ ** .

Eyes fly up. The round pair of blue eyes meet the pitch black darkness in front of him. He notes hearing something move. 

“ _ Mommy? _ ” Varian asks, sniffling. 

There’s a moment of silence. From the abyss, a hand reaches out. A palm is left out, holding out for another. 

The boy lifts himself from the ground, slowly approaching the mysterious hand. He looks up, hesitantly. What was he supposed to do? He stops in front of the hand, watching it lower itself to his level. 

With a small hand, Varian grabs the other hand. His expression morphing as soon as his hand touches skin. A smile.

From the shadows, a woman steps out, hair tied back. Eyes warm and comforting. She looks down at him. Her flowy dress white as snow, figure completely still. Her expression is blank, like a canvas waiting for its paint to be smeared on. 

“Mama…” Varian says with a state of understanding. He knew this wasn’t his mother. That much clicked. 

Like a switch flipping on, a smile paints itself on. She bends down, holding Varian’s arms.

“ _ I am Mama. _ ” 

  
  
  
  


* * *

  
  
  
  


The butterfly flies up, ignoring the insisting boy.

Flapping their wings, the butterfly is off the ground. Flying across the cave in a circle. Varian kept on eye on it, head spinning. 

“Woah!” Varian giggles, standing up. His body turns as the butterfly flies around him. Entranced by the sheer movement, he watches in awe.

“I wish I could fly like you! You’re so cool!” 

The butterfly turns once again. Only this time, it does make a circle. It flies a straight line to the exit. 

Any sense of joy gained was quickly gone.

“Wait! No! Mister Butterfly!” Varian chases after the creature, hoping it’d hear him. Leaving was dangerous. Mama would be mad. 

Varian had to get him back.

  
  
  


* * *

  
  
  


Varian couldn’t stop.

His feet ran miles, heart racing, body heating up. His expression terrified as he chased the blob of black and blue. 

“Mister Butterfly! Please!” Varian begs, blissfully unaware of the length he ran. “ _ Come back! _ ”

Into the woods, he ran. His feet carrying him further out into the unknown.

  
  
  
  


* * *

  
  
  


Cassandra didn’t plan for rain.

The sky’s had been clear, clouds were puffy and white-everything pointed to a clear day. The moment it began to pour, the warrior wanted to rip her own hair out.

Not to mention, the map she had been so focused on was soaked. 

“I don’t understand, they should be here!” Cassandra exclaims in frustration. 

“Please tell me that’s because they moved and not because you took us on a wild goose chase!” Eugene exclaims, heaving. He was looking no better. His face paler than any sheet she’s cleaned. His breathing was going heavier, and his chest was killing him. It was to the point the ex-thief wished he could just cut off his own waist. 

“Cassandra, what’s going on?” Rapunzel asks, shouting over the loud thundering rain.

Meanwhile, Cassandra cursed herself. Of course. She should’ve known better! How could she be so stupid? She led her friends on a worthless trip, filled with nothing but delusional facts given to her by a voice! She crumpled the map in her hands. Her father and Eugene were going to die all because of her. She was too late. Wasn’t she? She looks to the ball in the sky. She notes how the moon was eerily close to the center of the sky.

_ Midnight _ . 

From the distance, a faint shout echoes.

“Did you hear that?” Rapunzel asks. This alone sends the group, spreading out a bit, forcing a circle. 

Cassandra pries her eyes up, searching the area. Nothing but trees and rain. That’s all she could see for miles. 

“ _ Wait! _ ” The voice echoes. 

“Varian…” Rapunzel whispers under her breath. For who else could it be. 

“Wait, Rapunzel, it could be a trap-“ As if on cue, from the shadows something jumps out, landing straight onto Cassandra. She tumbled onto the muddy ground, struggling against the force above her. 

“Cass!” Rapunzel shouts. 

Quickly, the Princess moves to unbraid her hair. She couldn’t let her best friend get jumped. However her hair band refused to snap as it usually did. Her wet hair got snagged on the bracelet, refusing to let her free.

Eugene proved to be much quicker, picking up a trust frying pan and swinging it straight at the creature. 

It screeches out, falling off of Cassandra, who rolled away. She stands, pulling out her sword.

“Go!” Cassandra shouts. “I’ve got it!” 

“Now way! I’ve seen what this thing can do! She’s got mindpowers or something!” Eugene tells her, eyes blown wide. 

Just as he remembered her. The haunting figure that attacked them in the bedroom.  _ Mama _ . She sure had a way of surprising people. 

“Just go, Fizherbert!” Cassandra shoves him back. Right as the creature comes back, launching itself into another battle.

“ _ Don’t go! _ ”

Heads turn. 

_ Varian _ . He was out there. He was close by! Rapunzel feels her head plumet at the voice. He was here. She could hear him. 

“Let’s go!” Eugene tells her, snapping her out of her wake.

Together the two run. Reluctantly leaving behind their friend to keep the monster distracted. Just enough to grab Varian. 

  
  
  
  


* * *

  
  
  


Varian felt so close.

  
  


At his fingertips, he could almost reach it. The blur of color was so close yet so far. Yet it was like no matter how close he got, he could never reach. It always slipped past his finger. 

The rain clouded his vision. For a moment he was running blind in the wilderness. He stops in his tracks. No colors. Nothing. Just trees all around him and pouring rain.

He didn’t know where he was anymore. He was terrified of the looming forests around him and the scary trees. 

“ _ Please… _ ,” Varian sniffles, “ _ I’m lost… _ ”

Varian was lost. 

Suddenly a light flicker catches his attention.

His head swings around, facing forward. There it was, the butterfly. Yet it seemed to be just hovering there. Sticking in one spot. Right above a large bush. 

Varian is pulled closer, seeing recognition and comfort. He bends down, picking up a leaf. Like he did in the cave, he offered it.

Yet the leaf couldn’t reach. Not even with his best stretching. He steps on his tippy toes for extra measure. Yet he could. 

He shuffles forward reaching out once again. When he gets nothing. He takes another. Biting his lip, he prays the butterfly would take it. 

“ _ Varian! _ ”

“Huh?” Varian’s head turns around. He could’ve sworn he heard something. It had almost sounded like-

“Varian!” 

The boy had one hand held up to the butterfly while his head turned again. Through the rain and thunder, to his dismay, a familiar blond and scruffy man is heading his way. 

Eugene and Rapunzel. 

Tears flood his eyes. Mama didn’t kill them. Mama had lied. They found him! He was found! 

Varian was about to pull back and make a sprint for it when something rough grabs his hand. He gasps, spinning around. 

“ _ Not this time! _ ” A sickly voice snaps. 

Before Varian can react or do anything, he’s yanked. His whole body goes tumbling down. What he couldn’t see was behind the bush was a large cliff. The boy screams in horror as the world flashes past him. 

Varian had just one moment been so close to being home. So close to hugging the family he thought he lost. He had found it. Now he was falling. He could only scream as impact grew closer.

  
  
  


* * *

  
  
  


Cassandra had managed to fight the creature with just a sword and her stance. 

By fight, she meant take hits like no other. She was being thrown around and tousled with. She had to create a distraction but slowly she started to regret it. Her whole body had never been subjected to such force. 

Cassandra managed to skip by with just her life until she's caught in a trap. The creature must’ve had enough, throwing her back into a tree. Yet without moving another muscle, her throat begins to constrict. 

Now she fully understood mind powers and what exactly Eugene was talking about. As the air around her fled, she left gagging like a fish fresh out of water. 

A hand reaches out towards her. Getting closer and closer till it touches her chest. 

What happened next was excruciating pain. It shoots up her like a cannon on fire. It spread from her chest to the rest of her like wildfire through her veins. Her sight seemed to stop walking, running blank as she sheds a tear. A single droplet dripping down her cheek. 

Like a gift from above, the creature seemed to get distracted. Their face pulls away from hers, looking out into the distance. Right to where Rapunzel and Eugene had run from.

Cassandra tried to catch their attention, squirming and flailing but nothing happened. Not even a second later she’s dropped like lost bait and the creature leaves, racing away into the woods.

  
  
  


* * *

  
  
  
  


Varian’s screams echo.

Any form of calm and hope he had was gone. One thought ran through his mind. He was gonna die. 

Nearly inches from the ground, a hand wraps around his waist, catching him just in the nick of time. He hovers before the ground, in awe. He glances up to find Eugene holding him tightly. He noted the blond hair wrapped around his waist. 

In that moment, all Varian could see was the dashing hero Flynn Rider hoisting him up.

“Eugene!” Varian exclaims, excitement bubbling through him. Not only was he alive, but the man caught him before he became a French Crepe! 

“Hold on tight kid,” Eugene mutters, straining around the off position he was in. The two a reeled up onto high ground by Rapunzel, who was getting a test of strength as she did.

Once they were close enough, Eugene helped Varian onto land before climbing up himself. 

Without any time to waste, Rapunzel wrapped her arms around the small boy, pressing him close to her body.

“Varian! Thank goodness you’re safe!” Rapunzel cries. “Are you okay? Are you hurt?” The princess frets over the boy, checking him for anything. She didn’t care how big or small it could be, she needed to know.

“Mama said you were gone! I thought I’d never see you again!” Varian tells her. 

That seems to bring Rapunzel back to reality. She turns to look at her boyfriend who at the moment decided to collapse before the two.

“Eugene!” Rapunzel shouts, rushing to her boyfriends side. She notices him scratching at his shirt, as if the fabric was suffocating him. She pries open his shirt, only to gasp at what she sees. What was once thought to be just a nasty bruise as gone pitch black, spreading all across his chest like a nasty rash. Almost as if he was burned to a crispy bacon. 

Meanwhile, Eugene had never felt worse.

Despite having just saved somebody, he felt horrible. His skin was white, his whole body felt like a sun was beating inside him. His skin crawled like little ants running from the impending fire blazing across his body.

The wind catches in his throat. Varian can’t move. He only watches as Rapunzel turns to her boyfriend, tending to him, yelling at him to tell her what was wrong. 

From the woods, out emerges a familiar face. 

_ Mama _ .

Her face transformed with anger. Snarling like a wild beast. She was on all four limbs, moving like a spider as she eyes down the crowd. 

“ _ Varian!” _

Rapunzel moves to grab the boy, pull him closer. However this seems to trigger a response, a very angered creature runs towards them, charging full speed. 

Varian is suddenly shoved away as Rapunzel is entangled with the creature, rolling too close to the edge. Pinning the woman onto the ground, Mama glares down. She raised a bony hand, hovering it near her chest. 

Rapunzel tries to break free but she finds it difficult. Whatever this creature was had the upper hand. She takes a moment to note that she’s only inches near the edge of the cliff. 

“ _ Rapunzel… _ ” Eugene mumbles, deliriously. His eyes refused to focus, only seeing a blob over his girlfriend. Despite this, he couldn’t move. His whole body was on shut down, refusing to work. His head falls back, eyes rolling. 

Mama’s hand hovers right over Rapunzel's chest. If it wasn’t for the princess two hands holding her back, she would’ve been a goner. 

“ _ Rapunzel! _ ” Varian exclaims. His voice trembles with fear. 

Mama’s head snaps away, looking towards the child. With the distraction, Rapunzel could kick the creature straight off her. She managed to get up, running ahead. She grabs Varian, who’s been a victim in all this, forced to watch the scene unravel. She holds him in her arms, squeezing him tightly. 

Mama didn’t like this, it’s face turning deadly. It bares teeth that suddenly looked like large nasty sharp blades. It comes for them, ready to bite when-

“Mama,  _ stop _ !” Varian’s voice thunders through the trees, echoing. 

Everything around seems to come to the stop. Even the rain that soaked them. It was jaw dropping how once such a small voice contained so much power. 

Mama seemed to have obeyed, stopping feet from that, riled up. Like a cat left in a cage, it snarls and curls it’s body. 

“Down,” Varian whispers. 

Rapunzel looks at the boy, looking like she had seen the boys sprout two heads. However once her green meets blue, a wave of calm is thrown over her. 

Varian didn’t seem to be looking at her, eyes focused on the animalistic creature that watched with a predator glare. 

“Are you sure?” Rapunzel asks, sensing what was happening. 

Varian nods, his gaze a mixture of determinated fear. 

Slowly, Rapunzel moves to put down the minor despite every nerve in her body shouting at her not to. Every desire she had was to clench on and shield the boy. 

Once in the ground, Rapunzel holds onto his shoulders for a moment. The last bit of grip she had on him was the hardest to let go of. 

“It’s okay...I can do this.” 

Rapunzel lets go, pulling away her iron grip. 

Mama hisses, still eying Rapunzel but always shifting towards Varian. She watched, on guard still, keeping herself ready for a fight if needed.

“You have done everything to find me...”

However Varian was the epitome of a scared child in the face of danger. His brows were furrowed, a sympathetic from, slow paced walk. Rapunzel was almost in awe at how almost grown up the boy looked. 

  
“I know who you are.”   
  


Varian stops in front of Mama, who just seemed to stare at him, unblinking. 

“Who you truly are.”

Without words, a hand. His small reach out to the darkness. It catches everyone off guard.

Varian's hand trembles in the air, his fingers twitching. His heart racing dozens of miles as he looked down at the beady eyes below.

As almost a protest to this calm, Mama hisses, showing off her razor sharp chop. It makes the boy flinch as he imagined his hand being at the teeth’s mercy. 

Yet Varain kept his hand up, though notably looked away, for fearful to look.

Mama seems to stare, her once animal like eyes suddenly mirroring those of a human who’s understanding. The razor sharp teeth seem to slowly fade away, replaced with the normal square teeth. 

Mama’s hand rises, lifting up. Her fingers growing so close, centimeters for the small palm. However everything proved to be too good, since the fingers curl back and the hand moves away. Mama wasn’t ready yet.

“Mama doesn’t want to hurt anybody,” Varian says, opening his eyes to peek. “Mama just is scared.” 

Mama backs away, burned by the revelation. It writhes, back curling, shaking their head violently. No, this wouldn’t be easy.

It growls, though weak, towards the boy, warning him-no begging him to stop. Now everything seemed to change. The once scary monster was now on the ground. 

“Mama was scared.” Varian says, full of understanding and realization. “When Varian got lost, Mama tried to find him.”

The creature was backed into a corner, forced to comfort everything thrown up. It screeches, letting out a scratchy echo from the depths of their voice. 

“Mama remembers waking up alone. Varian was gone. Mama tried to find him but it was too late.” Varian rattles on, his voice trailing off. 

This seems to be the answer. Mama’s head drops low, letting out a long heartbroken whimper. 

“Mama doesn’t have to be scared anymore...” Varian shakes his head. “She doesn’t have to protect me anymore.” 

Mama looks up with her dark vacant eyes, her brows knitting together. She looks the boy in the eyes. 

“Varian didn’t get hurt that day. He was hungry and wandered away from the cave. He didn’t know what else to do. Varian was gonna go back but he ended up finding something!” Varian tells it. His voice as leveled as it could be yet still leaked warmth. “Varian found a family! A nice one! They took Varian home!”

“ _ Family… _ ”

“It’s a bit broken, but good.” Varian glances back at Rapunzel, who watched with her toes on the edge. “Yeah, still good.”

“ _ But without Mama, she will come. She will kill you. _ ” 

“I can’t say it’s gonna be all okay or that I’m not scared because I don’t know what will happen but I know Rapunzel, Cassie, and Eugene will be there with me!” Varian pushes his hand out farther, giving it out. It serves as a push closer to winning. “They make me feel brave! I wanna be brave! I don’t want to run away cause I’m scared anymore!”

Mama states into his eyes. It’s once pitch black eyes shrinking into two black dots looking into the blue ones. Her hand finally takes the other, embracing it.

A light fills the woods. It outshines them, blinding those watching. Forced to look away for the passing seconds. Once some of it dies down, all that’s left in the wake is a figure of a woman. 

A completely different woman from the Mama creature they met. With skin smoother than water, eyes like the ocean, hair fixed up. 

It smiled down at Varian.

“ _ Thank you, _ ” It tells him, thankful. If it weren’t for him, none of this would’ve happened. 

Rapunzel watched, jaws dropped. Had they expected this happening? No. Glad? Yes. 

Varian watches the woman, turns away from him. She seems to start her walk away when suddenly a small curious voice calls out.

“Where is Mama going now?”

Mama turns. She studies the youth, taking in his curious yet almost sad expression. She took pity, softening her eyes. 

“ _ I will always be with you. Inside here, _ ” Mama points to his chest, where one could assume their heart was. “ _ Anytime you are scared and afraid, I’ll be there _ .”

Varian covered that spot with his hand, holding it tight against himself. He smiles up. 

“Wait!” Rapunzel exclaims. 

Mama glances over, expression soft. She listened with open ears to the princess, no longer carrying the same hospital energy. 

“Who are you?” 

“ _ You have questions. Ones that I can’t answer. _ ” Mama tells her, avoiding the question completely. “ _ Time is ticking. When I’m gone, you all will be in grave danger. _ ” 

“What does that mean?” 

“ _I can no longer protect him. I am fading and soon will be nothing_ _. _ ” The woman showcases her see through hand. Her fingers rapidly diminishing. “ _Varian_ _no_ _longer_ _needs_ _me_ _for_ _he_ _has_ _you_.”

“From who?” Rapunzel asks. 

“ _ Her name is Zhan Tiri. She's a wicked demon. She craves nothing but destruction. To be set free from the prison that holds her. _ ” Mama looks off distantly as if something that was calling her. “ _ She won’t stop until the boy is gone. He proves to be a flaw in her plan. Though her first attempt proved to be...unsuccessful.”  _

A subtle nod to the small child, Varian.

Rapunzel steps forward, concern radiating off her like a blaring siren. Now it was something nobody wanted to hear. 

“ _ You must go to the kingdom where the sun doesn’t touch and stop her from breaking free. Only then will her curse end.” _

Rapunzel gulps, feeling the weight of the world crush her.

“ _ As my last gift to you, I will use the last of my power to guide you on this journey.”  _

A hand holds out a compass. 

“ _ That is all I can do for you now. _ ” 

Mama turns away from them, facing off into the distant sky. Her eyes tracing along the blue canvas above. 

“I will.” Rapunzel gives an affirmative nod, determination leaking through her. She grabs the compass, guarding it closely. 

“ _I wish you_ _good luck,_ _sun drop_.”

Then, just as fast as she appeared, she was gone, fading away into nothing. 

Varian watches her figure disappear, offering one last wave goodbye. His eyes full of bittersweet tears. 

From the side, Eugene suddenly comes alive. His body shooting up, gasping for fresh air. He looks around, dazed and confused. 

From the sidelines, Cassandra stumbles out, leaning against a tree. Stunned, her vision focuses on the scene before her. 

Rapunzel racing to Eugene,pulling him and Varian into a tight hug, just glad to be together and alive. The boy just stayed inside the warm hug, happy to finally be back where he belonged.

Limping out, she heads towards the group, about to cut in when something catches the corner of her eye. A ominous butterfly sitting on a branch, seemingly watching her. 

The feeling fades fast though.

She notes the moon once more, high up in the center of the world, proudly looking down at them. 

_ Midnight _ .

To her disbelief, she studies the very alive Eugene Fizherbert. Hope flickers through her as her head instinctively shifts west. 

_ Father _ .

For a brief moment she allows her shoulders to fall and exhale. Something inside her told her that he would be alright. 

That just for that moment, everything was okay. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh my god this is the last chapter I’m shook.
> 
> I was midway writing this when I remembered this was based off a Disney show so I did cut some out. As you can tell, I gave Varian the Disney save when Rapunzel used her hair lol. Also idk how her freaking hair works. Like how does it grab things-
> 
> ENDING THAT TANGENT HERE. Anyways I’m in the mix of writing the sequel to my other fic, promise. Which is probably my most shitpost work but I’m actually inputting most of the plot so if you’re interested check it out. 
> 
> Also I know I left it on a cliffhanger but if I make a sequel is if y’all really want it. I know I ask this a lot but sometimes a guy needs to know lol. 
> 
> ANYWAYS thank you all for your support and love during this adventure! I can finally say this fic is done! *closes book* 
> 
> Stay safe out there and don’t commit high treason while y’all at home. Peace out!

**Author's Note:**

> Had this random idea. Went through with it. Now I’m here lol. Idk we just need more Varian, Rapunzel, and Eugene fluff. Varian is also a baby. He deserves better. 
> 
> You guys want to see more of this AU? Yall agree on the though of more Eugene, Rapunzel, and Varian family fluff? Let me know. I’m curious. 
> 
> Anyways, thanks for reading!


End file.
